2. 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.
3. • 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?
4. • 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
5. •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
6. • “The idea is more important than the
work itself”
• “Art can be made of anything”
Dadaism Philosophy
7.
8. 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
9. 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
10. 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
11. 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
12. 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
13. 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
14. 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
