DADAISM

Synopsis Dada was an artistic and literary movement that began

in 1916 in Zurich, Switzerland. It arose as a reaction to World War I, and the nationalism, and rationalism, which many thought had brought war about. Influenced by ideas and innovations from several early avant-gardes -Cubism, Futurism, Constructivism, and Expressionism - its output was wildly diverse, ranging from performance art to poetry, photography, sculpture, painting and collage. Dada's aesthetic, marked by its mockery of materialistic and nationalistic attitudes, proved a powerful influence on artists in many cities, including Berlin, Hanover, Paris, New York and Cologne, all of which generated their own groups. The movement is believed to have dissipated with the arrival of Surrealist in France.

• Richard Huelsenbeck, a poet, and painter musician Hugo Ball selected the word at random from a German-French Dictionary

• “Dada” was coined in Zurich in 1916• A nonsense word, it means “ Yes-Yes”

in Russian, “There-There” in German (baby talk), and “Hobby-Horse” in French.

Who Founded Dadaism?

• Dadaism was a cultural manifestation which grew in the beginning of the 20th century, more precisely between 1916-1923.• Nihilism engendered by war, and the revolutionary spirit released by Cubism (the first revolutionary art movement) were the key factors behind the movement’s growth and appeal• It employed a barrage of demonstrations and manifestos, and exhibitions of absurdist art which were designed to shock both the authorities and the general public.

History

•Cabaret Voltaire was founded inZurich by Richard Huelsenbeck,Hugo Ball, Jean Arp and TristanTzara, as an early center of multi-cultural Dada events and protestshows.•The “Fountain”, a major Dadaistwork by Marcel Duchamp, wasrejected at the exhibition of theSociety of Independent Artists,causing an uproar among theDadaists.•It influenced later modern artmovements such as Surrealismand Pop Arts, and led to importantinnovations in fine art like collageand photo-montage.

History

• “The idea is more important than the work itself”

• “Art can be made of anything”

Dadaism Philosophy

Characteristics of Dadaism

The Dadaists were inherently political in their motivations. They rejected the modernist conception of the autonomy of art or "art for the arts sake.“Art in its various forms -- theater, the visual arts, literature and music - - should present critical perspectives through which to critique society. The Dadaists saw World War I as a logical consequence of bourgeois culture and civilization and its emphasize on rationalism and nationalism. The point of departure for Dada was the rejection of all "isms" as well as all cultural norms, standards and values.

Social Critique

The rejection of cultural standards and values also implied the rejection of "art" as well. The Dadaists saw themselves an anti- art movement. Two of the primary assumptions of the traditional concept of art are that art work is original and that the truth value of the art work is eternal. For everything that art stood for, Dada was to represent the opposite. Where art was concerned with aesthetics, Dada ignored them. If art is to have at least an implicit or latent message, Dada strives to have no meaning--interpretation of Dada is dependent entirely on the viewer. If art is to appeal to sensibilities, Dada offends.

Anti - art

In an effort to defy the "rational" cultural norms that Dada blamed for the bloodshed of World War I, many artists within this movement turned to "chance" to create their art. For example, Jean Arp would create collages from scraps of paper that he let fall onto the canvas.

Chance

One way to challenge the prevailing cultural standards and values of bourgeois culture is to intentionally shock and provoke the audience. The Dadaists used shock as a means of challenging the publics sensibility and complacency about the contemporary world. In addition to challenging the rules for art, Dadas intent was to use art to encourage the public to think critically about all rules.

Shock Value

Nonsense is the basic concept of the Dada manifestation. The works of the painters tried to express the confusion felt by many people after the order of the world they lived in was turned around by the First World War, like creating poems made of unrelated words or collages comprised of unassociated scraps or images.

Nonsense and Irrational

Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray began using prefabricated objects like stuffed animals, prints of old paintings or photographs and ticket stubs, and other artists caught on. Creating art from mass-produced objects undermined the assumption that art must be (or ever is) inherently original and assaulted the "deification" of the artist as the central theme of art. An early example of readymade art was Duchamps "Bicycle Wheel," a sculpture that consisted of a stool with an upside-down bicycle wheel attached to the top.

“Ready-Made” Objects

The simple act of creating "art" that is "anti-art" is itself ironic, but some Dada works were imbued with an additionally dark humor. Man Rays "Gift," an iron with spikes on the underside, works irony into the piece in a number of ways. The juxtaposition of an implement of aesthetic enhancement (an iron) with its antithesis (the spikes) is ironic, as is the double-meaning of the title itself.

Irony

Their Works

Famous Dadaists and

 Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968): Avant-Garde Artist

The Fountain

Max Ernst (1891-1976): Painter, Sculptor, Graphic Artist, Poet

The Elephant Celebes

Francis Picabia (1879-1953): Painter, Avant-Garde Artist 

Amorous Parade

Tristan Tzara (1896-1963): Avant-Garde Artist

Parler Seul

Raoul Hausmann (1886-1971): Painter, Photographer 

Dadasopher