Are Readymades art?

Do You Think “Readymades” is considered art?

Marcel Duchamp was the first artist to present an ordinary object and deemed it art. This caused quite a stir in the art world at the time.

"Readymades" were found objects which Duchamp chose and presented as art. In 1913, Duchamp installed a Bicycle Wheel in his studio. However, the idea of Readymades did not fully develop until 1915. The idea was to question the very notion of Art, and the adoration of art, which Duchamp found "unnecessary".

My idea was to choose an object that wouldn't attract me, either by its beauty or by its ugliness. To find a point of indifference in my looking at it, you see.

Bottle Rack (1914), a bottle drying rack signed by Duchamp, is considered to be the first "pure" readymade. Prelude to a Broken Arm (1915), a snow shovel, also called In Advance of the Broken Arm, followed soon after. His Fountain, a urinal signed with the pseudonym "R. Mutt", shocked the art world in 1917. Fountain was selected in 2004 as "the most influential artwork of the 20th century" by 500 renowned artists and historians.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Duchamp

"Portal", as seen in the garden

I can appreciate readymades as art.  There, I said it.  At my Walden Three Studio I look at the hundreds of metal objects lying on my tables and I sometimes stare at wonder at the beauty of the shape. 

Perhaps it’s the colour, or maybe the shape, or perhaps I think of what the item could be combined with to create something else, such as Picasso’s “Bulls Head”. Maybe it’s just the history of the item I’m looking at that it deserves to be honoured again.

Perhaps if I re-present the piece it would look good in some one’s home, or perhaps their garden. That’s why I like readymades. Such is the case with this sculpture I call, “The Portal”. 

This is a tool that was used in a foundry to hold the container of molten metal that would be poured into a mold. When this piece is put into the ground it has a certain beauty in its rough shape. It looks good in the garden with flowers growing around it.

So…. Does readymades appeal to you?  Do you think this is art?  Please comment.