Dada Can Be Perceived as ‘Anti –Art’ and ‘Irrationalist’.
Dada can be perceived as ‘Anti –Art’ and ‘irrationalist’.
The outrageous provocations of the Dada movement have prompted many to define Dada as "anti-art"—a term that the Dadaists themselves used. Dada shock tactics, however, were meant less as a wholesale disavowal of art than as a turning away from conventional understandings of art as illusionistic or transcendental. Art, the Dadaists believed, should not be an escape from daily events, but rather it should make visible the violence, chaos, and hypocrisies of contemporary life. As the Dadaist Hugo Ball wrote, "For us, art is not an end in itself . . . but it is an opportunity for the true perception and criticism of the times we live in." Beneath the humor and absurdities of Dadaism lies a serious moral underpinning. (Dada cites) (http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2006/dada/cities/zurich.shtm)
I intend to evaluate this cite, and aim to discover if dada in fact was anti art and irrationalist, by researching the history, methods and purpose of the dada ‘movement’. This being my intention, I must start with the Cabaret Voltaire.
Soon after the outbreak of the 1st world war, Hugo ball moved to Switzerland and on in February 1916, Hugo Ball founded Cabaret Voltaire. As Zurich was the peaceful dead centre of war, it made it possible for dada to evolve, as it was necessary to have the freedom and the refuge from World War 1 to live by their principles. The opening of Cabaret Voltaire attracted a wide range of intellectual thinkers and artists, who were outraged and disillusioned with the carnage of war and the powers that allowed such monstrosities. When Hugo ball founded the Cabaret Voltaire, the purpose of his venture was an attempt to ‘draw attention across the barriers of war and nationalism, to the few independent spirits who lived by their own ideals (Bigsby, pg.7)’. Hans Arp, Marcel Janco, Tristan Tzara, and Richard Huelsenbeck joined Ball and his companion, the singer Emmy Hennings, as the core
The outrageous provocations of the Dada movement have prompted many to define Dada as "anti-art"—a term that the Dadaists themselves used. Dada shock tactics, however, were meant less as a wholesale disavowal of art than as a turning away from conventional understandings of art as illusionistic or transcendental. Art, the Dadaists believed, should not be an escape from daily events, but rather it should make visible the violence, chaos, and hypocrisies of contemporary life. As the Dadaist Hugo Ball wrote, "For us, art is not an end in itself . . . but it is an opportunity for the true perception and criticism of the times we live in." Beneath the humor and absurdities of Dadaism lies a serious moral underpinning. (Dada cites) (http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2006/dada/cities/zurich.shtm)
I intend to evaluate this cite, and aim to discover if dada in fact was anti art and irrationalist, by researching the history, methods and purpose of the dada ‘movement’. This being my intention, I must start with the Cabaret Voltaire.
Soon after the outbreak of the 1st world war, Hugo ball moved to Switzerland and on in February 1916, Hugo Ball founded Cabaret Voltaire. As Zurich was the peaceful dead centre of war, it made it possible for dada to evolve, as it was necessary to have the freedom and the refuge from World War 1 to live by their principles. The opening of Cabaret Voltaire attracted a wide range of intellectual thinkers and artists, who were outraged and disillusioned with the carnage of war and the powers that allowed such monstrosities. When Hugo ball founded the Cabaret Voltaire, the purpose of his venture was an attempt to ‘draw attention across the barriers of war and nationalism, to the few independent spirits who lived by their own ideals (Bigsby, pg.7)’. Hans Arp, Marcel Janco, Tristan Tzara, and Richard Huelsenbeck joined Ball and his companion, the singer Emmy Hennings, as the core
Bibliography: Art journal, Vol. 52, no.4 ‘Interactions between artists and writers.’(Winter, 1993), pp, 82-84.87 Bigsby, C.W.E Liukkonen, Pesonen, Petri and Ari. ‘Andre Breton (1896-1966)’. Shock Vs Awe, Art Monthly, No 300, 2006 -----------------------