Dada

It’s name has been debated on as to how it came about, some saying it was selected at random by stabbing a knife into a book, which would display Dada’s protest against reasoning. Another suggestion is that due to its multitude of varying meanings, including that of “hobbyhorse” it was chosen and this would have demonstrated Dada’s rejection on objectivity and rather viewing art as subjective to the individual.

Dada was against the traditional preconceptions of how art should be and who should create it. They believed anyone could create art and rather then please the eye they aimed to create eyesores in a way. They did this through their eclectic use of form and medium in such a way that was almost disorganised. They shocked by introducing items such as urinals as pieces of art, all in the name to shock and question what is preserved as art. Not only were they protesting against the general assumption of how art should be but also of the social standings and viewpoints of the time. They disagreed with the brutality and violence that pursued during World War One.

Tristan Tzara founded the movement and wrote their manifesto in 1918. However, from reading his Dada manifesto it can be seen that as much as this is a document of aims for the movement, it is at the same time against such set out aims and therefore contradicts itself. But in the spirit of Dada this is irrelevant, it doesn’t aim for common sense or rule abiding strategies but aims to break out against such and encourage individuality overall. Tzara states that he detests “greasy objectivity” and therefore claims he is opposed to the idea of a one for all system, a one for all appeal to art.

Hannah Hoch -1919 - Da Dandy 

Hannah Hoch creates a mockery of mass media and regurgitates it into this collaged form using a mixture of pre-existing imagery and publications. The name for this piece “Da Dandy” is a play on the name of “Dada”. This could possible be her stating that the piece reflects “dandy” dress sense and therefore she has taken such imagery and made out of them this collaged mess. 

Kurt Schwitters and Merz painting - although he hadn’t considered himself a Dadaist he was deemed one due to his revolutionary use of mixed materials within painting. With the aim of enriching his collaged “paintings” he used a mixture of new and older materials including that of rubbish. This idea of enriching the paintings in such a way coincided with the Dada's ideas that anyone can create art and that it isn’t limited to a certain set of materials. Another example of dada ideas taking place is that within Marcel Duchamp’s “Fountain”.

Marcel Duchamp - 1917 - Fountain

Here the idea of art being beautiful and something that must be attained is being ridiculed and this is displayed in Duchamp’s use of this urinal in which is essentially a place to leave your waste. You could perhaps say he is taking the “piss-take” with the use of such an object.

You can read Dada's Manifesto by clicking onto the following link: Dada Manifesto