The Dada artistic movement began in Zurich, Switzerland. It was created as a reaction to world war 1 and the nationalism involved in the creation of said war. It was influenced by other avant-garde movements, these were Cubism, Futurism, Constructivism and Expressionism. There was a range of outputs for these movements such as performance art and poetry, sculpture, photography, painting and collage. Dada's appeal was that it marked the mockery of materialistic and nationalistic attitudes, which proved a powerful tool in the influence of groups all over the world, the biggest influences being in Berlin, Hanover, Paris, New York and Cologne. All of these cities generated their own groups of artistic individuals. The movement dissipated with the creation of Surrealism.
"Dada was the first conceptual art movement where the focus of the artists was not on crafting aesthetically pleasing objects but on making works that often upended bourgeois sensibilities and that generated difficult questions about society, the role of the artist, and the purpose of art." -
http://www.theartstory.org/movement-dada.htm
What I found interesting is that the members of dada were so infatuated with opposing all norms of bourgeois culture that the group did not even favour itself. Dada is anti-dada was often quoted by members. There were artists like Hans Arp that used chance as a form of creating works of art, as this would challenge the norms of creating art with planning and questions the role of the artist in the artistic process. Dada artists were also known to be ready made objects, they were everyday objects that would be bought and presented as an art piece with little to no manipulation by the artist, which came to the artists questioning artistic creativity and the definition of art within society.
Switzerland was neutral during the first world war with limited censorship and in Zurich, Hugo Ball and Emmy Hennings founded the Cabaret Voltaire on February 5, 1916. They did this in the back room of a tavern on Spiegelgasse, which was in a seedy part of the city. Ball put out a press release to attract other artists and intellectuals, the press release read: "Cabaret Voltaire. Under this name a group of young artists and writers has formed with the object of becoming a center for artistic entertainment. In principle, the Cabaret will be run by artists, guests artists will come and give musical performances and readings at the daily meetings. Young artists of Zurich, whatever their tendencies, are invited to come along with suggestions and contributions of all kinds." In July that year, the first dada evening was held, this is where Ball read the first manifesto. People usually argue on how the word dada was created, but the most common understanding is that Richard Huelsenbeck found the name by stabbing a dictionary with a knife. The term dada is a colloquial French term for hobby horse, it is also what comes from a child's mouth for the first time, in term of words, and the appeal of childishness and absurdity is what the group liked. They also liked that the word might mean the same or nothing in all languages, the group was avowedly internationalist.
The spread of dada came in 1917 when a dada magazine was released and published and they also held art exhibits that will help spread their anti war message. Later in 1917, Ball left to Bern to learn journalism so Tzara founded Galerie dada on Bahnofstrasse where more dada evenings were held with other art exhibits. Tzara became the one who's in charged of things like the movement began a campaign which would spread dada ideas, showing other countries like the French and Italians artist with letters.
When the war ended in 1918, many artists went home, and further helped to spread the movement. The end of Dada in Zurich was followed by the dada 4-5 event in April 1919, which turned into a riot intentionally: "Tzara thought furthered the aims of Dada by undermining conventional art practices through audience involvement in art production. The riot, which began as a Dada event, was one of the most significant. It attracted over 1000 people and began with a conservative speech about the value of abstract art that was meant to anger the crowd."
Dada was also interested in humour, usually in the forms of irony, the embrace of ready made was key to him and dada used that irony as it shows an awareness that nothing has intrinsic value. Irony also gave the artist flexibility and let them express their embrace of the craziness of the world, and helped them not take their work too seriously or getting caught up in the expressive enthusiasm or dreams of the utopia.
http://www.theartstory.org/movement-dada.htm
Sophie Arp
Sophie Arp was born in Davos in Switzerland in 1889. She is recognized as one of the most influential members of the dada project and throughout her life she fought for her own, less figurative art style to be recognized as fine art. As well as being influential part of dada, she is also recognized as one of the most important artists of concrete art and geometric abstraction of the 20th century Sophie was married to Jean Arp, another member of the dada project and would work with him over her lifetime on various joint projects, they both got married in 1922.
She taught weaving and other textile art at the university of Zurich from 1916 till 1929. From her work at 1916 till 1920 shows some of the earliest constructivist arts. The sophisticated geometric abstractions show an understanding of interplay in the colour and form of it.
Sophie's involvement in dada and her interests involved dance, performance, puppetry, costumes and artistic collaborates:
The Swiss-born painter, designer, and dancer Sophie Taeuber-Arp (1889-1943) was an active member of the Zurich Dada group, a participant in the "International" Constructivist movement, and an advocate of concrete art and geometric abstraction. She believed that melding the fine and applied arts could establish a visual vocabulary for the technological age and was committed to the concept of the "total work of art."
She taught weaving and other textile art at the university of Zurich from 1916 till 1929. From her work at 1916 till 1920 shows some of the earliest constructivist arts. The sophisticated geometric abstractions show an understanding of interplay in the colour and form of it.
Sophie's involvement in dada and her interests involved dance, performance, puppetry, costumes and artistic collaborates:
The Swiss-born painter, designer, and dancer Sophie Taeuber-Arp (1889-1943) was an active member of the Zurich Dada group, a participant in the "International" Constructivist movement, and an advocate of concrete art and geometric abstraction. She believed that melding the fine and applied arts could establish a visual vocabulary for the technological age and was committed to the concept of the "total work of art."
No comments:
Post a Comment