The term 'readymade' was first used by French artist Marcel Duchamp to describe the works of art of which he made from everyday, manufactured objects. The general idea behind this kind of art is that the concept is valued more than the craft. Whether the artist made the artwork with their own hands or not has no importance. They CHOSE it. Readymade art takes an ordinary article of life, and places it in a new context so that its significance disappears under its new title and point of view, creating a new identity for that object.

Readymade art was criticized fairly harshly due to its utter simplicity. Many people disagreed with this art style because they associated art with skill, whereas readymades placed an emphasis on the artist's choice [of object] and the significance associated with that choice. Art is not just the creation of new things, but how we can see everyday things from a different perspective. These specific pieces are grouped together because their value is not tied to handicraft, rather their value depends on their ability to transform the way we see.

Early Readymades managed to redefine art itself by disassociating from the traditional notions about visual art that obsess over the difficulty of the craft or the beauty of the creation, while placing an extra emphasis on the choice an artist makes to declare something as simple as an idea or a concept as a work of art. More than anything, Readymade art asserted the idea that art is defined by the artist.