objet trouvé

[ awb-zhe troo-vey ]

noun

, French.

, plural ob·jets trou·vés [awb-zhe t, r, oo-, vey].

1. found object.

objet trouvé

/ ɔbʒɛ truve /

noun

1. any ordinary object considered from an aesthetic viewpoint

Word History and Origins

Origin of objet trouvé¹

C20: literally: found object

Example Sentences

Viewed at a certain level, "Casual" is a work of objet trouve, constructed from a mélange of currently popular TV tropes down to Silver Lake as the new Brooklyn.

From Los Angeles Times

Today, Fassbender is both Magneto in the ‘‘X-Men’’ series and a darling of critics and intellectuals; he’s somehow a pinup and an objet trouvé and also playing Steve Jobs.

From New York Times

The online, social equivalent of Duchamp’s readymade art, or objet trouvé.

From The Guardian

And, for the most part, Téchiné—whose natural mode is melodrama, as in such films as “French Provincial” and “My Favorite Season”—gives the objet trouvé just enough polish to showcase its natural allure.

From The New Yorker

Flarf harvested strange language from Google searches and then presented it newly as kitschy objet trouvé.

From The New Yorker

Related Words

• found art