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Dadaism
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Dadaism
Dadaism is an artistic anarchy which was born out of disgust for the social, cultural and political values of time. It is an art movement that started in Europe in the early years of the twentieth century. Dadaism embraced some elements of music, art, theatre, poetry, politics, and dance. It is believed to be more of a protest movement with an anti- establishment manifesto (Elger, Dietmar, and Uta Grosenick, pg 25-26)
Although it is said that Dadaist ideas existed long time in the Atlantic region, the actual name of dada was coined in Zurich in the year 1916. According to Richard huelsenbeck who existed between the year 1892 and 1927, this word dada was randomly selected by himself and a painter- musician by the name Hugo ball (1886-1927) from a German- French dictionary. In Russian, dada means yes- yes and is taken to mean there- there in German while in the French language it means hobbyhorse. Some of the other supported and developers of the Dadaism movement include jean Arp, Tristan Tzara, Kurt Schwitters, Marcel Janco, Max Ernst, Francis Piscabia, Man Ray, Raoul Haussmann, and Han Ritcher (Pierre, 39)
During the First World War, many intellectuals, writers, and artists who were against the war tried to seek some refuge from enlistment in Switzerland. On February 1916, some writers such as Hugo ball and Emmy hemming set up the cabaret Voltaire which was a cross between a night club and a center of arts where these artists and others would display their works for exhibitions. The initial performances of the contributors to this art were conventional where they later become dissident and anarchic response to the First World War. These artists noticed the unremitting slaughter as the proof that the nationalist authorities had failed the society and that there was a lot of corruption. With a lot of unity in their protest against the war, they came together and under the battle cry of DADA manifesto (Elger, Dietmar, and Uta Grosenick, pg 30-32)
Confrontation and provocation were the main weapons of choice for the Dadaists in their movement. They attacked the tradition values with some irrational attitudes and with outrage provoked the conservative complacency. They also launched a fully scaled assault on the world of art which they viewed as part of the system. Dadaists questioned the values of all art and about their existence.
One of the paradox of the dada is that they claimed to be anti-art, yet it is very clear that here they artworks are explained so it sounded ironical to criticize artwork. The impact of Dadaism was to create an environment where art would be alive and not outshined by the traditions and the restrictions of the pre-established values. Art movements are often named by critics but the Dadaism is the only movement named by artists themselves. The authorship of the name has been contested for and there has been no hard evidence to support any claim for a long time (Pierre, 29)
In a conclusive summation, Dadaism brought some light to the world of art which for long had being under oppression by the traditions and restrictions of the society. It scrapped off to some extend the corruption that had filled the systems. Although, at some points they are seen to criticize artworks, it is very clear that they revolution was made to bring light to the industry. This is seen by their support towards artwork where they also came up exhibitions which promoted artists works.
Works cited
Elger, Dietmar, and Uta Grosenick. Dadaism. Koln: Taschen, 2006. Print.
Pierre, José. Futurism and Dadaism. London: Heron Books, 2009. Print.