Dadaism Essay

Molly Stephenson
Critical and Theoretical Studies 2: Essay 3
Word count: 2,101 (not including bibliography or referencing)
“The beginnings of Dada”, poet Tristan Tzara recalled, “were not the beginnings of art, but of
disgust.” 1
‘Dadaism’, is a viciously impulsive, seductive, disruptive and disobedient “artistic anarchy”2, that
concurrently embraces and rebels against the dichotomy of modernism and ant-modernism. Sprouting
from “cubism, futurism, constructivism and expressionism”3, the unorthodox, nihilistic movement of
Dadaism interrogates “the conformity of culture and thought”4, as well as attempts to humiliate and
mock art within the “corrupt and nationalist politics”5 of bourgeois culture. Dadaism simultaneously
grieves and romanticises death, hypocritically “embraces and critiques modernity”6, as well as
challenges materiality and the “conventional definitions of art, but on rational thought itself”7 through
the use of mockery, irrationality, spontaneity and rebellion.
In French, the noun ‘Dada’, translates to “hobbyhorse”8, or in Russian, “yes, yes”.9 The term in itself
is a mockery of art – created by the artists themselves. The noun could have been chosen at random to
further emphasis the impulsiveness and “senseless actions”10 of the movement, or to perhaps further
evoke to pretentious bourgeois culture that art is nothing and is “considered a ‘joke’”11. Dadaist’s
purpose was to condemn those who favoured capitalism and to question if art was solely an
1
“MoMALearning, Dada”, Amy Boyle, Desi Gonzalez, Tana Johnson, Karen Kedmey, Lisa Mazzola,
Stephanie Pau, Kris Wetterlund, MoMA, (29/09/2017),
https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/themes/dada
2
3
“Dada Movement Overview and Analysis”, The Art Story Contributors, The Art Story Modern Art
Insight, (2017), http://www.theartstory.org/movement-dada.htm
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Dietmar Elger, Dadaism, (Cologne: TASCHEN: 2004), pg.7
11
Wallace Fowlie, Age of Surrealism (United States of America: Indiana University Press, 1960),
pg.12
“indulgence of the bourgeoisie”12. Hugo Ball claims, “What we call Dada is a piece of tomfoolery
from the void, in which all the lofty questions have become involved”.13 As a result of the 8 million
military personnel deaths14 caused by world war 1, the magnitude of human loss encouraged the weak
and broken to feed off defeatism and sorrow, which lead to violence and anger to boil and erupt…
Dadaist’s began to rebel against the technological advancements that promoted such death, such as
“weaponry, communications and transport systems”15 and “modern media culture”, 16and to protest
against the rational…Hugo Ball cries, “What has now broken out is the total machinery and the devil
himself. The ideals are mere fig-leaves”17. Dadaist’s stressed that the “problem of spirituality”18, and
the embracement of technology, would have apocalyptic, and somewhat biblical consequences on
society.
Formed in “the absurdity of war”19, a rancorous assault against modernity had begun. The violent,
provocative movement flourished in Zurich, Switzerland after defeatism swept over the country as a
result of world war 1, between 1914-1918. The “movement from the battlefield to the cultural
sphere” 20 evolved… the ‘inquietude’ (restlessness)21 created by war heightened a sense of instability,
causing artists to rebel against classism- “order, control, condensation, choice, synthesis, rules…” 22
needed to be abolished, and so a “distrust of unity” 23 was created. Much like the futurists, “repressive
social values”24 lead Dadaist’s to publish manifestos and propaganda that ironically, promoted self-
destructive behaviour and further promoted the “warmongering of the politicians”25, seducing and
“hypnotising”26 the fragile, vulgar and pessimistic minds of Zurich through “prophesy, doom, destiny,
12
“Dadaism- Art and Anti Art”, John MacTaggart, Artyfactory, (2017),
https://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/art_movements/dadaism.htm
13
Dietmar Elger, Dadaism, (Cologne: TASCHEN: 2004), pg. 15
14
“MoMALearning, Dada”, Amy Boyle, Desi Gonzalez, Tana Johnson, Karen Kedmey, Lisa
Mazzola, Stephanie Pau, Kris Wetterlund, MoMA, (29/09/2017),
15
16
Leah Dickerman & Dorothea Dietrich, Dada: Zurich, Berlin, Hannover, Cologne, New York, Paris,
(National Gallery of Art: 2005), pg.7
17
18
Wallace Fowlie, Age of Surrealism (United States of America: Indiana University Press, 1960), pg.
13
19
Wallace Fowlie, Age of Surrealism (United States of America: Indiana University Press, 1960) ,
pg.21
20
21
Wallace Fowlie, Age of Surrealism (United States of America: Indiana University Press, 1960)
pg.17
22
pg.14
23
24
25
26
occultism and suicide.”27 Romanticism, associated with “revolution and liberation”28, occupied artist’s
minds, encouraging the “demolishing of ideals and standards”29…The romanticisation of freedom and
suicide soon materialised and became a foundation for ‘Surrealism’, leading artist’s to further delve
into a their own subconscious “imaginary world”30. Jacques Vache stated in response to his friend
overdosing on opium that Dadaism is, “Humour, thus defined, as theatric uselessness of everything”,31
echoing that drugs, hypnosis and suicide was a seductive experiment where one could “quite literally
live within the realm of his imagination”32. For instance, Max Ernst’s suggestive, mechanical,
sexually fuelled Little Machine Constructed by Minimax Dadamax in Person (Von minimax dadamax
selbst konstruiertes maschinchen) is reflective of not only antsy sexual performance, but also aids in
portraying the growth of modernity as seductive, insinuating there’s a degree of lust (and thus, sin), in
succumbing to technology. Ernst also further echoes in the handprint that this anxiety and insecurity
towards sexual performance is also a metaphor towards how the bourgeoisie respond to technological
change and growth…the masculine apparatus on the left is “fearlessly”33 dominating the more
submissive, angular machine on the right…symbolising the controlling, and uncontrollable, nature of
technology on society.
27
pg.27
28
pg.14
29
pg.15
30
31
pg.20
32
pg.20
33
“Guggenheim Collection Online- Max Ernst”, Lucy Flint, Artists Rights Society, (2017),
https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/1129
Figure 1: Max Ernst Little Machine Constructed by Minimax Dadamax in Person, 1919-20. Hand
printing, pencil and ink frottage, watercolour, and gouache on heavy brown pulp paper, 49.4 x
31.5cm34
“Bevor Dada da war, war Dada da” (Before Dada was there, there was Dada”) 35– Hans Arp
One of Dadaism’s critical significances as opposed to other artistic movements is the great hypocrisy
it beholds- “Dada is anti-Dada”36. The duality of rejecting and rebelling against bourgeois culture and
modernity, as well as concurrently embracing and implementing materials or strategies that promoted
the growth of modernity, was the essence of Dadaism – “It’s a combination of onomatopoeic
conciseness on the one hand, and a freedom from interpretable meaning on the other.”37 Ironically,
Dadaist’s wanted to devalue artwork, however viewers and art analysists are injecting value back into
Dadaism by dissecting and decoding their works anyhow - “The great paradox of Dada is that they
claimed to be anti-art, and yet here we are discussing their artworks”38. Richard Huelsenbeck evokes
that Dadaist’s fantasy was to “change the world with nothing”39, suggesting that the dichotomy of
growth and stagnancy was both arousing and daunting…In order to achieve both qualities
simultaneously, Dadaist’s relied “solely on irony, irrationality and the shock effect of their literary
provocations.”40 Paradoxically, Dadaist’s promoted delving deep into one’s own subconscious, and
yet, “stripping away illusion”41, was a fundamental component of trying to confront the “tremendous
problem of sincerity in the modern artist.”42Alongside Dadaist’s works came a performance that
echoed their repulsion. Despite their deep rooted hatred towards control and structure, the responses
they were craving to receive by viewers were systematically contrived and premeditated -“Surprise,
shock and scandal were deliberately calculated…and authorities reacted as expected”43. For instance,
Jean Arp’s Untitled (Collage with Squares Arranged according to the Laws of Chance), involved
instinctively tearing pieces of coloured paper and organically letting them fall and flutter onto a piece
of paper by chance, to “destroy the hoaxes of reason and to discover an unreasoned order”44, he states.
However, the placement of the rustically ripped papers seems suspiciously precise and balanced,
implying that perhaps there was a fear for chaos in letting something evolve without the manipulation
of the artist, and therefore, the placement of the squares was in fact not held in the hands of chance,
but in the hands of Arp.
34
Fig.1. Max Ernst, Little Machine Constructed by Minimax Dadamax in Person, 1919-20,
35
36
“Dada Movement Overview and Analysis”, The Art Story Contributors, The Art Story Modern Art
Insight, (2017), http://www.theartstory.org/movement-dada.htm
37
38
39
40
41
42
pg.20
43
44
Figure 2: Jean Arp, Untitled (Collage with Squares Arranged according to the Laws of Chance)
Torn-and-pasted paper and coloured paper on coloured paper, 19 1/8 x 13 5/8" (48.5 x 34.6
cm), 1917, https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/jean-hans-arp-untitled-collage-with-
squares-arranged-according-to-the-laws-of-chance-1916-17 45
Richard Huelsenbeck proposes a key historical legacy of Dadaism was the use of the ready-made,
unconventional, mundane, and somewhat domesticated materials in collage, paint and sculpture,
encourages viewers to “contemplate”46 art and its materiality, rather than to be “greedy” 47and place
value upon it- “By shredding all the slogans of ethics, culture and inwardness, which are only cloaks
for weak muscles, Dadaism is for the first time not confronting life aesthetically”.48 Dada’s “anarchic
spontaneity”49 encouraged artists to see art as a “temporary installation”50, as a result of embracing
movements (such as automatism) that embody a sense of randomness and subconscious control.
Implementation of impulsive, erratic and “chance based procedures”51 further aids in creating a short
lived installation, that doesn’t need time to provide the piece, or performance, with a degree of value.
For instance, in Marcel Duchamp’s 1912 oil painting Nude Descending a Staircase, No.2, reminiscent
of cubism, Duchamp stimulated scandal by painting in a fitful, passionate gesture that portrayed “total
rejection and revolt against artistic canons”52. Skepticism circulated as a result of Duchamp’s
45
Fig. 2. Jean Arp, Untitled (Collage with Squares Arranged according to the Laws of Chance)
1917, https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/jean-hans-arp-untitled-collage-with-squares-
arranged-according-to-the-laws-of-chance-1916-17
46
Hugh Honour & John Fleming, A World History of Art, (London: Laurence King Publishing Ltd,
2009), pg.800
47
2009), pg.800
48
49
2009), pg.808
50
51
52
2009), pg.800
irreverence and motives, that being that he was “never dictated by an aesthetic delectation”53, and was
more so interested in the process of desensitization of materiality- “A reaction of visual
indifference…an absence of good or bad taste, in fact a complete anesthesia”54.
Figure 3: Marcel Duchamp, Nude Descending a Staircase, No.2, 1912. Oil on canvas, 58 x 35 ins,
Philadelphia Museum of Art (Louise and Walter Arnsberg Collection).55
Dadaism has proven to be a provocative, hypocritical, contradictory state of mind with a “strange
attraction of irrationality”56, that both promotes and rejects the progression of modernity. Dadaism
embraces glorifying and grieving death, experimenting with hypnosis, simultaneously being aroused
and terrified of the advancement of technology and its apocalyptic consequences, as well as
contemplating the value of materiality by challenging conventional, traditional materials, processes
and rationale’s within art.
Bibliography:
1. “Dadaism- Art and Anti Art”, John MacTaggart, Artyfactory, (2017),
2. “Dada Manifesto by Francis Picabia- Who knows nothing, nothing, nothing. No.12,”, 391,
Paris: March 1920), http://www.391.org/manifestos/1920-dada-manifesto-francis-
picabia.html#.WeBmIkxL3-Z
3. “Dada Movement Overview and Analysis”, The Art Story Contributors, The Art Story
Modern Art Insight, (2017), http://www.theartstory.org/movement-dada.htm
4. Dietmar Elger, Dadaism, (Cologne: TASCHEN: 2004)
53 Hugh Honour & John Fleming, A World History of Art, (London: Laurence King Publishing Ltd,
2009), pg.800
54
2009), pg.800
55
Fig. 3. Marcel Duchamp, Nude Descending a Staircase, 1912. Hugh Honour & John Fleming, A
World History of Art, (London: Laurence King Publishing Ltd, 2009), pg.800
56
pg.16
5. “Guggenheim Collection Online- Max Ernst”, Lucy Flint, Artists Rights Society, (2017),
6. Hugh Honour & John Fleming, A World History of Art, (London: Laurence King Publishing
Ltd, 2009)
7. Leah Dickerman & Dorothea Dietrich, Dada: Zurich, Berlin, Hannover, Cologne, New York,
Paris, (National Gallery of Art: 2005)
8. “MoMALearning, Dada”, Amy Boyle, Desi Gonzalez, Tana Johnson, Karen Kedmey, Lisa
9. Wallace Fowlie, Age of Surrealism (United States of America: Indiana University Press,
1960)

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Molly Stephenson

Critical and Theoretical Studies 2: Essay 3

Word count: 2,101 (not including bibliography or referencing)

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