Free Republic

LONDON - A porcelain urinal is the most influential work of modern art, according to a survey released Wednesday. The poll of 500 arts figures ranked French surrealist Marcel Duchamp's 1917 piece "Fountain" — an ordinary white, porcelain urinal — more influential than Pablo Picasso's "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon," Andy Warhol's screen prints of Marilyn Monroe and "Guernica," Picasso's searing depiction of the devastation of war. Duchamp pioneered the use of everyday objects as art, an aesthetic that questioned the nature of art itself. Art expert Simon Wilson said the choice of Duchamp's urinal "comes as a bit of a shock."...

<p>San Francisco's United Nations Plaza is a landmark in crisis -- overrun by drug dealers, drunks and homeless people. But a new plan to remake the plaza and fill in its spraying fountain has the original architect fuming.</p> <p>"It's like saying we want to paint a mustache on the Mona Lisa," said renowned landscape architect Lawrence Halprin, who was awarded the National Medal of Arts last month by President Bush.</p>

Andrew Moffatt, 7, left, and his brother William, 5, of Seabrook sample the water following dedication ceremonies of a 75-foot-long fountain in memory of the seven Columbia astronauts at the Arts Alliance Center of Clear Lake Saturday. Tribute flows for crew New fountain dedicated to Columbia astronautsBy ALLAN TURNER COLUMBIA'S CREW Columbia's crew waves good-bye as the astronauts prepare to board the space shuttle on Jan. 16. A wave-inspired brick fountain featuring seven jets of water -- one for each of the astronauts aboard the doomed Columbia space shuttle -- was dedicated Saturday at a Nassau Bay art museum...

Thu Jan 9,11:58 AM ET A frozen fountain is seen with the Pantheon in background, in Paris, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2003, as temperatures stood at - 6 Celcius (21F). The cold has killed a fourth homeless person in three days, rescue workers said Thursday. (AP Photo/Laurent Rebours) I wonder if this has slowed down the anti-war goo-goos?