found object

In the visual arts, an object of no intrinsic value, such as a piece of wood or rusty machinery, which is ‘found’ by an artist and displayed unaltered or virtually unaltered as a work of art or anti-art. The Dadaists and surrealists were devotees of the found object, and subsequently ‘found’ material has been incorporated into sculpture. The found object is related to the ready-made, but whereas each found object is unique, a ready-made is a mass-produced article, indistinguishable from countless others.