Overall Reflection of Dadaism

Dadaism Art
-Fountain, by Marcel Duchamp
-L.H.O.O.Q, by Marcel Duchamp
-Karawane, by Hugo Ball
-How to Make a Dadaist Poem, by Tristan Tzara
-The Plain, by Jean Hans Arp
-The Persistence of Memory, by Salvador Dali
-Anna Blume, Kurt Schwitters
-Cinema Calendar of the Abstract Heart – 09, by Tristan Tzara
-The Great Lament of My Obscurity Three, by Tristan Tzara
-The Air is Root, by Jeans Hans Arp
-Roue de Bicyle, Marcel Duchamp
-Dadaville, by Max Ernst







Dadaism varies in several types of art, from music, to poetry, to paintings, to sculptures, and etc. Dadaism was so new and different during it’s time period. With the combination of lack of sense and it’s strive to make a change in the art world, it often caused the pieces of art to be very controversial. For example, Fountain and L.H.O.O.Q both gained the society’s attention, but the feedback was a mix of negative and positive. Fountain, being a urinal, was thought to be inappropriate. L.H.O.O.Q. poked fun at the higher society when Duchamp drew a beard and mustache on a Mona Lisa postcard. But Duchamp chose these readymades as his artwork of choice because he wanted to see how society would react. It’s not so much as he was trying to send a message by what his art says, but of what kind of emotions the art can evoke from the audiences own opinion. Hugo Ball, tries to something similar to this, except with sounds instead of words. He uses these sounds to suggest feelings, in his sound poem, Karawane, rather than using words that say what emotions are supposed to be felt. Kurt Schwitters, does this opposite, and uses his words and expressions to express the his emotions for his lover, with his writing of Anna Blume. As for Tristan Tzara, he focused on how nature was related to Dadaism, in his poems Cinema Calendar of the Abstract Heart-09 and The Great Lament o My Obscurity Three. Tzara wanted to make a statement, but his statements were hard to figure out the meaning, while Duchamp often caused uproar with his art. Tzara’s two poems show how nature often doesn’t have a reason for why things occur, which is what the writer focused on a lot in his poems. In his other poem that I read, How to Make a Dadaist Poem, he actually explains to readers the meaning of Dadaism, by giving directions, rather than just coming out and saying it. Tzara rarely gave meaning to his poetry, and left it up to interpretation. Salvador Dali takes the same approach with his painting called, The Persistence of Memory. The painting gives way for anyone to make their own interpretation of it, yet gives off a hint with its title, and relating it to reality, time, dreams, and death. Jean Hans Arp’s poetry, however, could easily be interpreted. Her poem, The Plain, focuses on the actual concept of “nothing.” Her poems tone gives off a lackadaisical approach, although subtly hinting that she feels society needs to wake up, or they will get lost in the bourgeois society, as she says, “As I sat on the chair I pondered sadly, but not desperately, Why the core of the world exuded such black light.” Another way to speak out to society, was Max Ernst’s Dadaville, which was a canvas, with cities on it, made of cork. This different substance made for the cities, show how Ernst felt that the world needed a unique change of pace to its usual ways, Many famous Dadaists took different ways to make an impression on the world. By doing so, they caused a gradual new turn for art over time.

Katina's Own Piece of Dadaism.

The work of art I chose to create for Dadaism is a collage. Dada pieces usually contains objects that are random and don’t make sense with one another. My collage has things that seem out of place, yet I think they represent my interpretation of Dada. It contains a circle of hands around an eye to represent that the world should continue to keep their eyes open, and not be blinded by close-mindedness. It also contains aspects of nature, such as a rose, and a picture of the earth to show how Dadaism is related to nature, by that nature often lacks sense. While others may think that my opinion is wrong, this collage shows how it doesn’t matter, because art is just a matter of the artist’s own opinion, which is what the Dada movement wanted society to realize. Like past Dada artists, I’m not going to explain this piece and am going to leave my collage up to the audience’s own interpretation.

"To Make a Dadaist Poem" by Tristan Tzara

To Make a Dadaist Poem

Take a newspaper
Take some scissors.
Choose from this paper an article the length you want to make your poem.
Cut out the article.
Next carefully cut out each of the words that make up this article and put them all in a bag.
Shake gently.
Next take out each cutting one after the other.
Copy conscientiously in the order in which they left the bag.
The poem will resemble you.
And there you are--an infinitely original author of charming sensibility,
even though unappreciated by the vulgar herd.
-Tristan Tzara

Tristan Tzara, the creator of Dadaism, is the speaker of this poem, “How to Make a Dadaist Poem”. He’s speaking out to the world about the movement and trying to explain the true meaning of Dada through telling his audience how to develop a Dada poem, instead of blatantly saying what the point of Dadaism is. Because the movement is based around not making any sense, this poem has no structure, pattern, or rhythm. It seems like just an explanation on how to write a Dada poem, but it is more than that. It embodies the whole Dada movement. Its precise directions, “Take a newspaper, Take some scissors” are orders. Tzara’s tone in this poem has a force that showed how he thought that art needed to change. The purpose of the author of this poem being the creator of Dadaism is that he had a strong influence over his movement, and could explain what Dadaism is trying to accomplish in the best manner. He wants people to understand that if the world’s actions did not make sense at the time, such as wars and fighting, than neither should poetry. By making poetry that lacks meaning, this caught the attention of readers. By choosing the words that are cut out of the newspaper article from the bag, it represents the random order and rebellion that Dada portrays. Once these words form a poem, they “resembled” the author of the poem. This author is also considered “An infinitely author of charming sensibility, even though unappreciated by the vulgar herd.” That is how the poem ends, to signify how the “vulgar herd” is the rest of the world who doesn’t believe that art needed a new makeover. This poem isn’t just a poem, but orders to his audience, that Dadaism is a necessity for society in order for it to better itself.

Fountain, by Marcel Duchamp

Marcel Duchamp decided to test the boundaries of society with his readymade piece of art called Fountain. It was a urinal, placed in a competition put on by the American Society of Independent Artists, which Duchamp was a director of. He put his piece under a fake name, Richard Mutt, in order to test the other directors and see how the rest of the art world would react. The competition allowed any type of art as long as the artist paid a fee before they entered it. Duchamp followed these rules, and so Fountain should have been able to be a part of the competition. It was not allowed in due to being too inappropriate for society during that time period. After this, Duchamp resigned from that group of directors. Duchamp thought that it was up to the artist to decide what art was. The American Society of Independent Artists was too close minded. The story found its way into an article in an art journal called The Bind Man, and defended the artwork. During that time, this type of art was still new. Therefore, it was very easy to argue about. Fountain gained the attention of many. Some thought of it as way too inappropriate, while others thought the opposite. It was all a matter of opinion. Duchamp later had pictures taken of Fountain where he could later compare it to Buddha and the Virgin Mary. They all had very similar shapes to one another. It was a mystery to everyone what Fountain actually represented. What was its meaning? Duchamp didn’t want to give it a meaning. He wanted the world to make its own interpretation. Comparing them to Buddha and the Virgin Mary was just an idea that people could use for their own imagination. Duchamp wanted it to have several layers of art, rather than just represent one thing. The artwork of Fountain is not the actual object itself, but the message that Duchamp was trying to send. He was trying to say that art doesn’t have a real definition, but rather is all a matter of the world’s opinion.

The Background Information of Dada

Dadaism began between the time period of 1916 and 1924. The movement began after World War I as a protest against the brutality of the fighting. It included poetry, literature, theatre, and other arts, but used a rebellious approach rather than the traditional way. The founder of Dadaism, Tristan Tzara, once said, “Art needs an operation.” Tzara was a French writer who was originally born in Romania. He later went to the University of Zurich, in Switzerland, where he and his friends formed the movement. It is theorized that the word “Dada” originated when Tzara and his comrades used the words “Da, Da” often, which meant “Yes, yes” in the Romanian language. The other theory is that the group struck at a French-German dictionary at random with a paper knife and picked the name it landed on. Tzara later simply explains that, “Dada means nothing.” Dadaism was considered the “Anti-art” because it took all the standards of what art was during that time period, and contradicted it. The movement did this to represent their growing feelings of pessimism towards the world. The movement’s purpose was to surprise their spectators into self-awareness. It focused on meaninglessness and a lot of their artwork failed to make sense. After World War I, the world was looking for ways to express their emotions. Dadaism was an outlet for people to express confusion. In fact, some of the Dada artists were veterans from the war. One of these veterans, Hugo Ball, became a strong activist in the movement. After joining the army as a volunteer, he thought that the whole war was a mistake, and left. He was viewed as a traitor in his country, and had to leave to Zurich, where he joined the Dada movement. Many believed that these wars resulted from the world’s conventionality in society and in art. Because of this, these artists took hold of chaos and rejected logic. As I read these poems, I see anger, rebellion, and hope for change. I think that this movement was sick of seeing the same things over and over again. They felt that society needed something different, something a bit outside the box. Dadaism was brilliant by the fact of choosing a rebellious form of poetry to make a statement. During a time where the world was looking for reason and answers, Dadaism showed how there was no right reason for war. They knew that war didn’t make sense. It didn’t have to follow any rules. So in reaction to this, they created a type of poetry that resembled war. It was chaotic and it was irrational, and it was necessary to prove that the world needed new modifications to their old traditional ways.

WORK CITED

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"Wikipedia." Dadaism. Wikimedia Foundation Inc., 6/1/2010. Web. 1 Jun 2010. .