Dadaism/Absurdism: Dadaism

• 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.

• So intent were members of Dada on opposing all norms of bourgeois culture that the group was barely in favor of itself: "Dada is anti-Dada," they often cried. The group's founding in the Cabaret Voltaire in Zürich was appropriate: the Cabaret was named after the eighteenth century French satirist, Voltaire, whose novella Candide mocked the idiocies of his society. As Hugo Ball, one of the founders of both the Cabaret and Dada wrote, "This is our Candide against the times."

• Artists like Hans Arp were intent on incorporating chance into the creation of works of art. This went against all norms of traditional art production whereby a work was meticulously planned and completed. The introduction of chance was a way for Dadaists to challenge artistic norms and to question the role of the artist in the artistic process.

• Dada artists are known for their use of readymade objects - everyday objects that could be bought and presented as art with little manipulation by the artist. The use of the readymade forced questions about artistic creativity and the very definition of art and its purpose in society.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS: DADA MOVEMENT
Synopsis
Key Ideas
Most Important Art
Beginnings
Concepts and Styles
Further Developments
Resources

• HANS (JEAN) ARP (1886-1966)
• JOHANNES BAADER (1875-1955)
• JOHANNES BAARGELD (1892-1927)
• HUGO BALL (1875-1927)
• THEO VAN DOESBURG (1883-1931)
• MARCEL DUCHAMP (1887-1968)
• MAX ERNST (1891-1976)
• GEORGE GROSZ (1893-1959)
• RAOUL HAUSMANN (1886-1971)
• JOHN HEARTFIELD (1891-1968)
• EMMY HENNINGS (1885-1948)
• HANNAH HÖCH (1889-1978)
• RICHARD HUELSENBECK (1892-1974)
• MARCEL JANCO (1895-1984)
• FRANCIS PICABIA (1879-1953)
• MAN RAY (1890-1976)
• HANS RICHTER (1888-1976)
• KURT SCHWITTERS (1887-1946)
• SOPHIE TAEUBER (1889-1943)
• TRISTAN TZARA (1896-1963)

• CABARET VOLTAIRE (ZURICH 1916)
• CLUB DADA (BERLIN 1919)
• DADA MESSE (BERLIN 1920)