DADAISM - History, Characteristics, Artists and Re-Interpretation
DADA - a form of artistic anarchy born out of disgust for the social, political and cultural values
Dada was more of a protest movement with an anti-war, anti-art and anti-establishment manifesto, than a style of art. It was born as a negative reaction to WWI. It sees art as a bourgeois indulgence, and mustbe destroyed as it was part of the system. It is somewhat against expressionism and labelled the movement as blind to the world, turning its back to misery. Whereas Dada is one with the world and endorses spontaneity. At the same time, it was nihilistic, often deliberately negative and confronted existentialism.
In post-war Berlin, it was less anti-art and more political, and adopted collages (inspired by Cubism and Futurism), photomontages and assemblage to relate artworks to real world conditions. It was highly satirical and corrossive, and the Berlin Dadaists were noted for their enthusiasm for technology.
The origins of the term Dada is controversial. Some say it is Slavonic for "yes-yes", which reflects the enthusiasm of the movement. Others say that Richard Huelsenbeck and Hugo Ball chose the world randomly by spearing a knife into a French dictionary---which landed on the word "Dada", meaning hobbyhorse, which fit the movement for its childishness and naivety.
The First International Dada Affair, ironically, was the beginning of its own destruction. Dadaism was confrontational and provocative, but it was ironic. It was anti-art and yet still art. It was anti-establishment but became an establishment. It condemned cultural conformity and yet became the norm. These restricted artists' self-expression, though some artists saw the end coming and shaped the movement to their own styles. It is also one of the first sounds a baby makes, a universal baby-talk you could say.
Dadaism greatly influenced movements such as surrealism, action painting, pop art, installations, happenings and conceptual art.
CHARACTERISTICS
- corrosive, confrontational, provocative
- uses elements of automatism and chance
- uses physical elements from the real world, such as newspapers, advertisements, and junk to relate its artworks to reality
- was more of a protest movement than a style of art
- highly satirical
- sought to offend rather than to impress
- believed that the idea behind the art is more important than the physical results of the artwork itself (led to conceptual art)
JOSEPH BEUYS
12 May 1921 – 23 Jan 1986
A German sculptor, installation artist, draughtsman and teacher, Joseph Beuys was one of the leading figures in European avant-garde art in the 60s-80s. He is best known for "plastic art"---sculptures, assemblages and installations made from found objects. Later in his artistic career, he claimed that he had been shot down as a fighter pilot in WWII, but was kept alive by nomadic Tartars who smeared him in fat and wrapped him in felt. This supposedly influence the inclusion of felt and fat in many of his artworks.
His unconventional use of artistic materials---including earth, blood and even dead animals---ensured him a certain notoriety. In 1965, for example, he executed a performance art titled How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare, in which he covered himself in gold and honey, and proceeded to make grunting noises into the ears of a dead hare. Beuys also wanted to affect environmental and social change through his projects, called "social sculptures".
Beuys was quite different from other Dadaists, in that he uses his artworks not only to critique, but also to positively influence the world.
MARCEL DUCHAMP
28 Jul 1887 – 2 Oct 1968
Duchamp is commonly regarded as one of the artists who helped to develop plastic arts. He rejected the works of many artists, like Matisse, as merely "retinal", intended only to aesthetically please. Duchamp sought to put art back in the service of the mind. He coined the term "readymades", and his most famous work is "Fountain", a urinal anonymously signed "R. Mutt", which he submitted to the Society of Independent Artists exhibit in 1917. It was rejected, despite the paid submission entry, and caused an uproar among the Dadaists.
FLUXUS
Fluxus is an international group of artists, composers and designers noted for blending different artistic media and disciplines in the 1960s. Like the Futurists and Dadaists before them, Fluxus artists did not agree with the authority of museums to determine the value of art, nor did they believe that one must be educated to view and understand a piece of art. There is no concrete definition of Fluxus, since members think that the act of defining a movement is too limiting. It is described as "intermedia", seeking to expand the definitions and reaches of art. It often promoted a Do-It-Yourself mindset. For example, in 1966 Ben Vautier produced a matchbox with directions on the cover saying, "USE THESE MATCHES TO DESTROY ALL ART - MUSEUMS ART LIBRARY'S - READY-MADES - POP-ART AND AS I BEN SIGNED EVERYTHING WORK OF ART - BURN - ANYTHING - KEEP LAST MATCH FOR THIS MATCH -" It is assumed that many of the boxes were burned, following the instructions. Fluxus artists would often produce copies of an object to devalue them.
"MATTERIFICATION", DADAISM RE-INTERPRETATION
For Dada, I was asked to gather everyday objects from around the house to for an assemblage sculpture. Kudos to those who were patient enough to put up with me! (especially when I took the chargers)
The final assemblage features a blender, a plastic bag, phone chargers, a crumpled tissue paper, a pint/beer/whatever you call those things glass, a two-pronged fork, a dining fork, a toothbrush, a lightbulb and a nail clipper. VOILA! *tears curtain away* (now would be a good time to applaud)
The idea stemmed from the fact that we, as human beings, want to matter. We want to know that life has a purpose, that karma exists and goodness triumphs in the end, that we don't simply cease to exist when we die.
That's why, for example, we created gods in our image. It bridged the gap between omnipotent beings and people, which supposedly mirrored their physical characteristics. In a more immediate situation, it is why we slave hours away updating our status on social media, whether it be reflection during a morning walk or an inspirational quote.
Mattering is a survival instinct. It's what motivates us to live to see the next day. Otherwise, we'd be marching headfirst to self-destruction (faster than usual, I mean).
It is also a liability. In "Matterification", everyday clutter is stuffed into a blender, its plug encased in a plastic bag. It is the idea that humans create waste out of the fear that we will become extinct, that everything will be reduced to oblivion and nothing, not even a speck of dust, will remain to tell the tale of two-legged creatures that once roamed the earth (and nearly destroyed it, too). We want to believe that somewhere, someone is recording every single detail of our life. We hoard to compensate for emptiness. We collect vaults of memories and things because we fear being forgotten.
We are filling the blender to the brim, and it's going faster than ever.