The Dada movement was simultaneously present through many cities in Europe. The term Dada came from Zürich in Switzerland, which can be interpreted as meaning new beginnings. Dada is a very basic sound frequently one of the first sounds of a child learning to speak. This movement was described as anti-art and anti-war, these ideas were in response to the First World War to show the world its madness.
Hugo Ball the German philosopher in Zürich was strongly opposed to WW1, and showed this through creative material such as poetry. He founded the Cabaret Voltaire in February 1916, this was a nightclub to provide a creative environment. This was a chaotic place, were readings of poetry took place, and peculiar costumes were presented.
The Dada movement had no clearer aesthetics, it was not painting it was an experience. Everything about Dada challenged society the dress code, poetry, and sexuality. These post-futurists were very politically aware, some were involved in Dada as well as the Futurist movement. One of the most bizarre things would be how they would destroy their work and outfits. They are quickly made and not precious, they showed the temporary nature of life. Dad was very human as the charming but portrayed something sad within it. As the movement progressed it increasingly became marked, Dada was shown as a state of mind.
Emi Hemmings showed very interesting work through performance, a lot of this included puppets. She was very much a political activist and received a prison sentence for falsifying papers for refugees. Hemmings was involved in the culture of contemporary youth rebellion.
After Cabaret Voltaire was shut in July, Hugo Ball presented the manifesto for Dada soirée. This brought about regular exhibitions in a Dada gallery, however this was closed in July 1917. This showed how Dada is about people not place as every venue eventually closed down, all having been short lived.
Cabaret Voltaire produced publications, with ideas poems and thoughts much like Marinettis ‘Zang Tumb Tumb’. This had a bold typeface which references to the ‘Blast’ publication. The Cabaret Voltaire publication included international contributions.
Dadaists often saw traditional art is nothing but produce of the system, which also produced World War I. They viewed it as frippery and no more than decoration. Those contributing to Dada wanted to reject reason and logic, and instead praise nonsense, irrationality and intuition. Through this they produced art, not through practice studies, with no planning just chance and gut instincts.
Jean Arp (1887 – 1966) explored using found materials creating ‘Ready–mades’, a lot of these included spontaneously made shapes. His wife Sophie Taueber–arp (1988 – 1943) produced similar aesthetics through textile art, this was a big step as previously there have been the big female contributing to art movements. This work included a lot of geometric patterns and shapes, some very similar to her husband’s work especially the fabric hangings.
The machine age strongly influenced the visual Dada work, showing strong fascination with the speed and possibilities of this new technology. However this was a double edge sword, on one hand was the transportation and communication advances which changed cities dramatically in a positive way. However this technology also developed mechanised warfare and tanks, providing an efficient way to kill. This is something the Dada movement is strongly against, as it was the First World War that set these feelings in motion. The work produced showed images of machines that don’t do anything but are aesthetically interesting. And as this develops these machine parts begin to look more and more like a human figure. Towards the end of Dada the gestures of the contributors became more extreme even violent, and some were driven to the point of suicide.
Throughout the Dada movement the aim was to hold up a mirror to society to show how madness had taken over. And many of the ideas are still influencing today’s art.
Rose Kerbyson 