Found objects (in
French, "
objet trouvé") are objects, either natural or man-made, that were not created by the artist him or herself, but merely selected to be part of a work of art or a work of art in and of itself. The latter were called "
Readymades" by
Marcel Duchamp.
Found objects altered by the artist are considered to be "
assisted".
A
sculpture created by
assembling found objects is referred to by the
French term
assemblage.