Visual Cultural Ppr: Deanna Lardieri

The influence of Dadaism

Dadaism is one of the simplest yet complicated movements ever to happen to the art world. The founders and followers created a completely new way to make art and changed much of the artistry which came after it. Dada’s harsh intent and rebellious beginnings both outraged and inspired those who viewed it. However, without Dada, artists today wouldn’t have the brilliant influences which Dadaists produced and art would not be as advanced or liberated as it is today.

World War I was the beginning of Dada. The terrifying times of death, a lack of humanity, materialism, and the disgust for their government, drove Europeans, mostly German and French, to seek solace in neutral Switzerland in the city of Zurich. There they banded together to outlet all the angst the war was giving them. They wrote angry poetry, protested, and painted avant-garde subject matter. They didn’t like where society or humanity was headed and they refused to be associated with the rules and traditions of it any longer. This became what would be the credo of the Dada movement. They took the idea of this inhumane society and applied it to the art they created, refusing to follow the rules and traditions of art as well. Art of the time was realistic, aesthetic, and had meaning that could be interpreted. These Europeans eliminated everything they knew art to be and became “non-artists.” They decided on the name “Dada,” meaning hobby horse, because it was the name that made the least sense to their “non movement of “non-art.”

Dada was a very unique and original idea but it did have a few influences. Cubism, the abstraction of objects shown from a three dimensional perspective on a two dimensional plane, was still new at this time and did inspire some works. Fauvism, the movement which emphasized the quality of color over the realistic quality of a painting also can be seen in some Dada works. Finally, expressionism, feelings being expressed through art using color, line, subject matter and so on, gave Dadaists the idea to contradict that movement and to make meaningless art. Dadaists agreed that there was one rule to Dada art: there are no rules. They also wanted their art to be interpreted by the viewer only and it was up to their interpretation what the artwork represented.

Some of the most famous Dada artists included Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray, Hugo Ball, Hans Arp, Francis Picabia, and Tristen Tzara, among many others. Each one had his own style and his own views about the Dada movement.
Marcel Duchamp, probably the best known Dada artist, created plenty of controversy with his depiction of the Mona Lisa, a photocopy with a mustache and beard drawn on her face. What made it so obscene to the viewers was the letters he wrote beneath the painting: “L.H.O.O.Q.” When these letters are said in French it becomes the phrase, “elle a chaud au cul,” which translates to, “she has a hot ass.” Another well known work of his is the “Bicycle Wheel,” which is simply an upside-down wheel sitting atop a barstool. Many Dadaists used utilitarian things and changed them slightly, to create Dada art. A perfect example is Duchamp’s “Fountain,” which was a urinal without any plumbing which on the side he wrote a fake signature. He influenced artists like Andy Warhol who used ordinary things like soup cans, changed the way people looked at them and called it art.

Dadaists weren’t always artists. In fact most of Dada art was in the form of journals or poems. Hugo Ball was a Dada poet and actor who founded the “Voltaire Cabaret,” a stage where Dada artists would perform. His famous sound poem, “Karawane” made a huge impact on the Dada world. Made to sound like the footsteps and calls of a caravan of elephants, the poem included ridiculous words like, “Ba-umf,” and “Ü ÜÜ Ü.” He performed this poem on stage dressed as an elephant. Ball’s style paved the way for lyricists who make up words and poets who speak freely whether or not in protest.

Man Ray was a Dada photographer who invented a new way of using his camera equipment to create new art. He would expose photo paper to light after setting objects on top of it. Upon developing this paper, the negative silhouettes would appear making a photo without the use of a camera. He called them “Rayograms” after himself. He would also add and change things to already developed photos. His work was the very humble beginning of programs like Photo Shop that we use today

Max Ernst was a very different Dadaist. His style was very painterly, and much more meticulous than that of most Dada artists. He painted whimsical creatures, and colorful landscapes that were very well drawn. His style would soon become a very important movement in art history, Surrealism which would then inspire graphic art and pop art.

Although Dadaism sought out to rebel and offend the society they strongly opposed, it became one of the most influential movements in art history. If Dadaists weren’t bold enough to change the rules of art by eliminating them our creativity would be underdeveloped and our world would not know the advances it does today.