I believe in the artist.” —MARCEL DUCHAMP Artists don’t just make art. They create and preserve myths that give their work clout. While nineteenth-century painters faced credibility issues, Marcel Duchamp, the grandfather of contemporary art, made belief a central artistic concern. In 1917, he declared that an upended urinal was an artwork titled Fountain. In doing so, he claimed a godlike power for all artists to designate anything they chose as art. Maintaining this kind of authority is not easy, but it is now essential for artists who want to succeed. In a sphere where anything can be art, there is no objective measurement of quality, so ambitious artists must establish their own standards of excellence. Generating such standards requires not only immense self-confidence, but the conviction of others. Like competing deities, artists today need to perform in ways that yield a faithful following. Ironically, being an artist is a craft. When he rejected the handmade in favor of the “readymade,”
