Artist Merchandise and Multiples

The art multiple is an object reproduced by an artist in numerous copies. This category focuses on the kind of art multiple that is three-dimensional, small scale, and produced in editions, such as Marcel Duchamp's Box in a Valise works in the 1940s or Fluxus's Fluxkits of the sixties. By the end of the twentieth century, artists began making art merchandise—a mass produced, cheaper, and populist alternative to art, exemplified by Keith Haring's Pop Shop. Art merchandising has become a prevalent practice by many contemporary artists, notably Shepard Fairey and Takashi Murakami.