The Artistic & Literary Movement of Dadaism
Dada flourished as a movement during World War I in Zurich, Switzerland and later spread to Europe and other Asian countries. It developed as an extremely strong reaction to the political and social scenario and was seen not only in paintings but music and literature as well. Born in the era of modern age, when art was getting reformed and passing through a lot of changes, Dadaism turned out as a revolutionary art movement during the early 20th century. This was the turning point in the Western history of art where art was getting a conceptual definition finding new meanings of the purpose of creation.
Coining of the term
The actual origin of the term is not much known and seems to have multiple meanings across various languages. Dadaism means “hobby horse” in French and “yes yes” in German and Romanian. It was never intended to give a distinct meaning to this art movement because the art created during the time was considered as meaningless. Meanings were to be freely interpreted by the viewers who came across the artworks being created and perceive the visuals according to their ways of seeing. That is why Dada cannot be categorized into a particular art style of its own. Rather it is free, spontaneous and the dauntless execution of more than just what we perceive as art.
Origin & Idea
Dada originated as a reaction to the situation of war and political turmoil during the First World War. Refugees in Zurich who were also actively writing and composing music started to visualize the war as a pointless matter of act. Hence they started their own battle cry of nonsensical creativity in the form of literature, music, dance and visual art. This was a mockery of nationalist attitudes and opposition to the concept of war and domination. Dada poets and artists strongly responded to the situation by questioning the role of art in society and they also defined their creations as “anti-art”-going against the traditional norms and challenging the new meanings of art as a tool to raise voice against political happenings. German author and poet Hugo Ball is known for collectively bringing up all the conceptual aspects of Dadaism as an art movement in his manifesto called “Dada Manifesto” in 1916. He is often credited as the founder of the movement due to his political statements which inspired artists from other genres to work with Dada ideologies. He mentions in one of his writings that one should not write poetry just “with the words” but “out of the words”. Creativity took a new shape as the old language was doomed and rejected by the filthy capitalists and art got a new meaning blooming out of experiments done by authors, musicians, dancers and artists. The aesthetics of Dada spread to New York and Paris where artists started to adopt the ideologies of the movement and responded to the atrocities of World War I.
Use of different mediums in Dada Art
As art was forming a new definition, artists did not restrict themselves to domains of painting and sculpture. They were experimenting with found objects, photography, collage and even performance arts became a great mode of artistic expression to convey ideas of the poetry and music that was simultaneously created during this time.
Marcel Duchamp
French painter and sculptor Marcel Duchamp who was a leading artist of Dada is known for his execution of found objects and assemblages that are striking examples of the Dadaist ideology. His works were often rejected and not considered as works of art due to the use of readymade objects that were neither aesthetic nor visually entertaining according to the authorities and art critics. Such a renowned work is “Fountain” submitted in 1917 to the Society of Independent Arts. This work named Fountain is nothing but a porcelain urinal signed as R. Mutt which was defined as an “act of choice” by the artist himself. He intended to convey that art was free from all judgements and it was a liberal state of mind that reflected in the creations. He used this object of everyday use and changed the usual positioning. The work was not rejected as it was a paid entry into the exhibition but it was removed from the display area and the organizers hid it behind the partitions. And this removal caused a turning point in the history of modern conceptual art. It was photographed and published in the Dada journal which evoked curiosity among the readers as they were looking at not something created by the artist but a simple object that intended to generate a new trail of thoughts. That is when “thinking of art” began instead of merely “seeing art”. This cerebral engagement can also be seen in his work called “Bicycle Wheel” which consists of a wheel mounted on a stool and occasionally turned for anyone who visits to have a look at the work. This is also one of his readymade versions which he said he enjoyed looking at. He created multiple versions of this and it is said to be one of the first kinetic sculptures.
Another well known example of his readymade series is L.H.O.O.Q. where he transformed a postcard of Leonardo da Vinci’s Monalisa. He had simply added a moustache and beard to the inexpensive postcard of the 16th century painting with a pencil.This work was also created in multiple versions and one of them was even named “L.H.O.O.Q. Shaved”!
Examples of readymade works by Marcel Duchamp
Hannah Hoch
German Dada artist Hannah Hoch is renowned for her collage compositions and photomontage works. She often used cuttings from newspapers and magazines and merged them together in her works. Being an active member of the Dada club in Berlin, she was socially active, rejected the Bourgeois culture and directly used photographs from publications hence connecting directly to the popular media. She was the only woman of the Berlin group who was dauntlessly expressing her ideas of cultural liberalism, and formulating her ideas of “new woman” who can stand for herself financially, vote and live devoid of any social hindrances. Her notable work entitled “Cut with the Kitchen Knife Dada Through the Last Weimar Beer-Belly Cultural Epoch of Germany” is developed by pasting paper cuttings from mass media publications. The work shows a juxtaposition of Dada and anti-Dada elements. A detailed view of the work shows contrasting images of machineries, buildings, maps and women dancing, skating and climbing. It highlights the cultural rise of artists, intellectuals especially women against the nonsensical situations of war, corruption and sexism of pre-war German culture.
Examples of Photomontage works by Hannah Hoch
Man Ray
American artist Man Ray who stayed mainly in Paris was experimenting with photographs and his works significantly contributed to the Dada and Surrealist movements. Apart from his works in painting, he pursued fashion and portrait photography and many of his photographs were published in popular magazines. He is popularly noted for his works with photograms and called them “rayographs” (after his own name). These, unlike regular photography, did not involve the use of a camera and were captured on photographic paper after exposing them to light. Wherever there was no object, the paper would turn dark when exposed to light. Objects used were typically mundane and intended to have any specific meaning for its use. Hence his Rayographs were mostly untitled and not a part of any series; nor connected to each other.
Examples of “Rayographs” by Man Ray
Man Ray is also known for the use of satire and irony in his works to reflect upon the absurdities of contemporary situations and human behavior. One of his humorous works is “Gift” which was exhibited in Paris during 1921. Considered as an iconic work of the Dada period this readymade sculpture consists of an iron with fourteen brass tacks or nails glued to the bottom. A simple object of daily use has been transformed into a work of art and purposely rendered useless as its functionality is lost. The tacks remain at the center of the iron sole and continue to create ambiguity regarding the purpose of its existence in society. It has a hint of destruction, generating a subversive attack on societal norms and redefining the objective of creating art.
Another work by Man Ray is “Indestructible Object” which shows an eye attached to the swinging arm of a metronome. This too is a readymade object with little modifications done and executed in 1964. However this is one of the replicas of the original which was created in 1923. It was called “Object to be Destroyed” and actually destroyed in 1957. The original was created to be destroyed and the later created replicas were called “Indestructible”. This again unfolds the layers of metaphorical meanings trying to respond to the adverse effects of war and materialistic obsessions of the middle class.
Examples of readymade sculptures by Man Ray
Dadaist expressions of artists were often rejected, especially the readymades which were not accepted as works of art. However the movement is considered as the most brave step towards creating a new definition of art and using art as a tool to raise voice against the political and social happenings. The political and cultural narratives by the artists, authors, musicians and performers paved a new path for conceptual art leading to movements such as Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism.
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