Dadaism

?
View mindmap
  • Dadaism
    • Intro Points
      • Response to WW1 and the death of 9 million people in it
      • First war where industry had turned against humanity
      • Emerged in Zurich as protest and in New York
        • Ernst: 'attack on the civilization responsible for this imbecilic war'
      • Rejection of culture and tradition, seen as associated with creators of war
      • Dada child-like associations
        • Hobby-horse in French
        • Absurd in German
        • Yes yes in Romanian
        • Tzara 1918: 'Dada meaning nothing'
      • Fascinated with workings of human mind
        • Influence of Breton working as nurse and meeting soldier who thought war was fake
    • Arp 'Collage with Squares...' (1916-17)
      • Description
        • Grey construction paper with cream and blue squares scattered on it
        • Tore up pieces of paper and let them fall into place by chance
        • Child-like collage
        • Theoretically had no control over design, but other works elaborated with lines/ contours
        • Harmony and balance-no scraps overlap, suggests some artistic intervention
      • Context
        • Began with wife Sophie to experiment with accident and automatism
          • Drew same design everyday until hand automatically varied
        • Influence of papier colle technique of Picasso and Braque
        • Considered a progressive freedom for form - anti-art doing stuff for the sake of it
        • No self-expression, skill or decisions of the artist
        • Emphasis on rational what was seen to have caused WW1
          • And 'laws of chance' as to who got called up, died etc.
    • Picabia 'The Fig Leaf' (1922)
      • Description
        • Enamel paint on canvas
        • Correctly drawn silhouette of a man
        • Elongated nose and upper lip
        • Uneven canvas surface
          • Painted over earlier work 'Hot Eyes' - caused scandal at 1921 Salon de Autumne
        • Ironic censorship- obvious fig leaf across genitalia
          • Translation wrong- actually a vine leaf
      • Context
        • Bad relations with Salon des Independants
          • 2/3 works refused Jan 1922
        • Signac says he was trying to seek publicity through controversial works
        • Fig-leaf drawing attention to censorship in art
          • Also shown in 'Spanish Night' using circular motifs in place of breasts
        • Correctly drawn silhouette shows conservatism in art
          • References reopening of Louvre in 1920
        • Same pose as Oedipus and the Sphinx displayed in the Lourve
          • But bends right leg rather than left so genitals are on show
        • Elongated nose/lip referencing masks of Commedia dell'Arte - Italian traditions
        • Critics ignored, and those who did notice it said it was dull and unamusing
    • Duchamp 'Fountain' (1917)
      • Reactions/ Interpretations
        • Seen as having phallic connotations
          • "It is gross, offensive, there is such a thing as decency" -Bellows
        • 'The Fountain may be a very useful object in it's place...but it is by no definition a work of art
        • 'By creating the ready-made fountain, Duchamp was taking the ****'
        • Norton: 'lines recalled classical Buddah's or the legs of Cezanne's nudes
        • Taken out of context so loses meaning
        • Viewer placed in place of urinating male - shock value
        • Rejects position of artist - suggests anyone can be an artist
      • Description
        • Porcelain made urinal
        • Turned on side
        • Signed R. Mutt and dated 1917
        • Use of 'ready made' - ordinary object presented as art
      • Context
        • Duchamp leader of Avant Garde scene in Manhattan
        • Didn't like organisation of art world
          • Formed Dada as a anti-art reaction
        • Urinal from Motte Iron Works plumbers shop
          • Pseudonym R. Mutt references this
            • Also reference to Mutte and Jeff cartoons - low art
            • Mutt colloquialism for dog
            • Richard slang for money bags
        • Deliberately hid identity to test subjectivity of art
        • Dismissed from Salon des Independants, classed as indecent

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar History of Art resources:

See all History of Art resources »See all 20th century resources »