Dadaism (1912-1922)

“Dada artists were ironists. Duchamp was their star and his masterpiece was a urinal. He ended his life playing chess. He claimed he was making an art statement. My grandfather had a sense of humor too. And he ended his life playing chess. But since he did it to keep from being bored, no one thought it proved anything. This suggests that Dada artists are exempt from the general rule that ironists are the biggest victims of their own irony.” – Brad Holland

What was it about? What were the goals?
Dadaism, also called Anti-Art, was a protest movement, starting just before WWI, that used new forms of art to criticize the violence, war, fascism, and poverty found in modern capitalist society, as well as the acceptance of these atrocities by the bourgeoisie (upper-middle class). Dadaist art included sculpture, collage, assemblage, installation art, “sound poetry”, and “cut-up writing”. It was irrational and ridiculous, serving as an attack on modern society and industry––that what most people considered logical and normal was actually just as irrational and silly as their work. Politically, most Dadaist artists favoured communism and/or anarchy. Dadaist work was supposed to be offensive and ugly.
     Dadaism was inspired by Cubism, Expressionism, and Futurism, which all allowed artists to dismiss realism and beauty, focusing instead on other issues. It also introduced the idea of using cheap, mass-produced materials. Where Dadaism differed was in allowing random chance to dictate art. Jean Arp would throw bits of paper on the ground and glue them to a background, wherever they lay.

Untitled (Collage with Squares Arranged according to the Laws of Chance), by Jean Arp, 1916-17

      Dadaists also started the practice of installation art – transforming a room through a variety of decorations and objects. Although short-lived, Dadaism was hugely influential on 20th century art, guiding the way for Abstract Expressionists like Pollack, Pop Artists like Warhol, and all kinds of conceptual artists.

A bit of history:
Dadaism, although short lived, was an international art movement, starting in Zurich, Switzerland, by a group of artists who all had one thing in common – they had all fled to Zurich to avoid the horrors of WWI. Dadaism soon spread to New York City (NYC), Berlin, and Paris as these artists travelled around. It was in NYC that Duchamp met Picabia and Man Ray. This is where Duchamp exhibited his readymades, and it was also a centre for Dadaist writing.
     Although Dadaism was an art movement, its proponents, in true Dadaist fashion, denied this, calling it an anti-movement, whatever the hell that means. This didn’t stop them from making journals, and artist Hugo Ball’s Dadaist Manifesto in 1916. Tzara wrote another, the following year.
No one is sure where the movement got its name. It sounds like a baby’s babble, suggesting a childish art. One story is that the Austrian artist Hulsenbeck stabbed a French dictionary with a knife and it landed on the word dada, meaning “toy horse”. Another theory is that the name came from Romanian artists Tzara and Janco always saying, “Da, da,” meaning “yes, yes.”
     Two of the earliest Dadaist works were the play, Ubu Roi, by Alfred Jarry, performed in 1896, and the ballet Parade, composed by Erik Satie. Towards the end of Dadaism, which centred in Paris, many Dadaist artists were intrigued by psychology and moved on to become Surrealists. Dadaism returned to prominence as Neo-Dada in the 1960’s.

The underlying philosophy of the not-a-movement:
Like the romantics before, Dadaists believed that they needed to somehow break down all the social beliefs, institutions, and practices that allowed for war, and to reinvent a better society, and they thought they could somehow do this through art. They failed, miserably, but it was a noble effort. Where they succeeded was in redefining art and art making, with a variety of new methods and techniques.

How was it represented in other arts: music, architecture, and literature?
As stated earlier, Dadaism found its place early in theatre and music. It also found its part in literature, with books like The Blind Man, Rongwrong, New York Dada, and Marsden Hartley’s essay “The Importance of Being ‘Dada.’ ”

Was Dadaism great?
It’s unclear that they made great art, or any art at all for that matter (it’s anti-art, remember), but they certainly made a great debate that still rages on a hundred years later. Having said that, Dadaists made many works that are memorable, evocative, humorous, and influential. That’s something.

Some leading figures:
It tells you something, when the leader of an intellectual group is the youngest one there...

Éric Alfred Leslie Satie (1866-1925) composer
Alfred Jarry (1873-1907) playwright
Francis Picabia (1879-1953)
Emmy Hennings (1884-1948) wife of Hugo Ball
Hugo Ball (1886-1927)
Hans/Jean Arp (1886-1966)
Kurt Schwitters (1887-1948)
Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968)
Sophie Taeuber (1889-1943)
Hannah Hoch (1889-1978)
Man Ray (1890-1976)
John  Heartfield (1891-1968)
Max Ernst (1891-1976)
Carl Wilhelm Richard Hülsenbeck (1892-1974)
Tristan Tzara (1896-1963) defacto leader and strategist for the group in Zurich.

Some of the most famous artworks of the time:

Duchamp’s Ready-Mades: Duchamp picked a total of thirteen objects that he elevated to fine art status, in most cases simply by signing them. Objects included a urinal, a snow shovel, a comb, and a typewriter cover. This was in response to a 1917 art exhibit in New York City that promised to accept everything, no matter what. Duchamp wanted to test their honesty, and it turned out they had lied. The Society of Independent Artists hid his “fountain” and Duchamp soon quit the group. Duchamp selected these items as a form of trolling, but also to force debate on a new definition of art, one which the world is still wrestling with. He wanted these works to be impersonal and uninteresting, lacking any handmade craftsmanship, and having nothing to do with taste, which he called the enemy of art.