Everyone Belongs to Ready-made
1994
Rebirth of Things
Ideal Art Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand
As part of a group exhibition by Chiang Mai-based young artists organised by the late Montien Boonma, Navin Rawanchaikul sent a letter from Bangkok to the late Marcel Duchamp in France. Playing with notions of recycling in reference to the exhibition title, the letter was a complaint about globalisation stating Navin’s opinions on the commercialization of the art world. The letter concluded with the suggestion to Duchamp that he alter his famous statement from “Ready-made Belongs to Everyone” to “Everyone Belongs to Ready-made”. Two similar phrases by both artists were displayed on the gallery wall with the same message in the letter that the artist sent to Duchamp. A few weeks later, the letter was returned to Navin in Chiang Mai with a message from the French postal service saying that the person at that address no longer existed.