The Dada art movement originated as a protest against World War I and the social disorder of that time. Dada artists experimented with new forms of art like collage, photomontage, readymades, and assemblage that incorporated everyday objects and images in unconventional ways. They sought to challenge conventional views of art and shed light on what they saw as hypocrisy. Key figures like Marcel Duchamp and Hannah Hoch pioneered these new techniques that have continued influencing art and design to this day.

2. • Dada can be best described as an artistic and
social protest against the first world war.
• The war had obliterated landscapes, destroyed
social order, and taken the lives of millions of
soldiers and civilians.
• Artists experimented with the presentation and
grouping of objects previously not viewed as
being of any artistic value. They believed that art
practices needed to be renewed in response to
the time.

3. Artists sought the “process of unmasking the
hypocritical establishment” and associated this
unmasking “with the ideas of artistic
experimentation.”
Mathew Gale
Collage, which means ‘to paste’ had become common
among the Dadaist movement. This random
placement of images, originally intended to
represent the disorder of the time, continues today
as a very viable form of art.

4. Photomontage
Raoul Hausman

5. “Photomontage and collage developed into
two of Dada’s most effective tools of
artistic communication. The re-
appropriation of images from the mass
media allowed for deft social
commentary.”
Dan Redding, Smashing Magazine

6. Cut with the
Kitchen Knife
Hannah Hoch
1919

7. • Along with the cutting and rearranging of
images of mass media and photography,
Dadaists also used ‘ready-mades’ or found
objects as art. Marcel Duchamp was most
famous for his submission of a urinal to an
art show. Signed ‘R. Mutt’, Duchamp hoped
to shed light on an outdated way of thinking
about art…in other words, to once again, in
the style of Dadaism, challenge the system.

8. Fountain
Marcel Duchamp
1917

9. • While Duchamp chose to use items largely
unchanged (he only repositioned the
urinal and signed it with a fictitious
name), others such as Raoul Hausman
chose to take unrelated three dimensional
objects and place them together in what
we call an assemblage.

10. Mechanical Head
Raoul Hausman
1920

11. • Along with visual arts, Dada sought to inform
the public of the outrages bestowed upon
them by their governments. They did this via
propaganda.
• Dadaist propaganda took the form of posters,
newsletters, and flyers.
• All of these were still distinctly Dada, with the
mixing of fonts, and by skewing the baselines.

15. • The graphic layout of the Dadaist movement
was both innovative and dynamic. It fought
against what was considered the established
norm.
• The Dadaist break against what was
considered ‘proper’ and ‘orderly’ can still be
seen today in graphic design.
• Many companies use stylist inspiration
(which we can easily see) of the Dadaist
movement to sell their products.

16. Portfolio Piece Liz MacIntyre

17. Hot Sauce
From DieLine
(The worlds #1
package design
website)

18. Poster
(Jimmy Choo
Shoes)
Kat Bensler

20. • With natural progression, Dada eventually
evolved into a new art movement called
Surrealism.
• Although the Dadaist movement did not
last long, it inspired generations of artists
to think outside the box, and to not be
afraid of experimentation.
• It is still easy to find everyday examples of
work inspired by Dada.

21. Collage
Suzanna Scott

22. Assemblage Pig
Leo Swell

23. • Dada like collage has even entered the
computer age with graphic design
programs such as Illustrator and
Photoshop.

24. Digital Collage
Alberto Seveso

25. The Dadaist
movement has even
affected me with this
piece titled the
Plague of Icarus

26. And with this assemblage/artist book titled:
The Space Within

27. Danielle Feige
Graphic Design