Artist's multiple

also: Multiples · Artists' multiples

movement 1930s-present Europe United States

An artist's multiple is a series of identical objects produced by or for an artist to their design, usually a signed limited edition made for sale. Prints have always been editions, but the term especially covers cheap contemporary objects that challenge art's cult of uniqueness: Marcel Duchamp's Rotoreliefs (1935), an edition of 500 spinning discs, are among the first true multiples, and Joseph Beuys and the Fluxus circle developed the form in the 1960s. The multiple lets an artist reach a wide market while keeping artistic control, and its challenge is to make an idea repeatable. The form was re-energized in the 1990s by artists like Sarah Lucas and Tracey Emin, whose shop of T-shirts and mugs anticipated the Young British Artists.

The four 50th Anniversary "Art Of Soup" Campbell's Tomato Soup cans featuring a facsimile autograph by, portrait of, and quote from, Andy Wa
The four 50th Anniversary "Art Of Soup" Campbell's Tomato Soup cans featuring a facsimile autograph by, portrait of, and quote from, Andy WaCC BY-SA 4.0 (credit: Thomas Altfather Good) · source

Defining characteristics

  • Repeatable by design: the idea, not the unique object, is the work
  • Signed and numbered limited editions, often with artists' proofs
  • Cheap, everyday, or industrial materials and fabrication methods
  • Deliberate erasure of the hierarchy between original and copy
  • Small scale and low price, made for wide distribution

Key figures

  • Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) — Ready-made logic and Rotoreliefs (1935) founded the multiple as a form
  • Joseph Beuys (1921-1986) — Extended the multiple as a vehicle for charged everyday objects
  • Wolf Vostell (1932-1998) — Published Do It Yourself (1963), his first multiple, to go with his New York show
  • Sarah Lucas (b. 1962) — Co-founded The Shop (1993), selling customized goods as art
  • Tracey Emin (b. 1963) — Co-founded The Shop (1993), turning merchandise into art practice

Example works

  • Rotoreliefs — Marcel Duchamp (1935)
  • Do It Yourself — Wolf Vostell (1963)
  • The Shop — Sarah Lucas & Tracey Emin (1993)

Sources

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