Emerging in Zurich, Switzerland amid the corruption and violence of World War I, Dada began with the adaptations of disgusted artists and poets. The values cultivated by the war were conformity, oppression, and corrupt politics, and artists saw the need for a movement that criticized these values. The Dada movement was first and foremost political, and considered art to be but a medium of communication, rather than an end goal. Dada art was not orthodox, politically correct, or particularly aesthetically pleasing; rather it sought to include unconventional materials and controversial ideas designed to offend and criticize. The movement spread throughout Europe and eventually reached the United States, and different groups focused on different things. Dada artists of New York were mostly anti-art, and those of Berlin criticized the government the most.
FAMOUS DADA WORKS
Marcel Duchamp Fountain, 1917
Marcel Duchamp was one of the most influential Dada artists. He pioneered the idea of introducing found objects into art, calling them "readymades." This urinal is one of the most famous examples of Dada art. It entertained the idea that anything can be art and that art does not have to be beautiful.
Raoul Hausman ABCD, 1920
Collages became a popular part of the Dada scene. This collage by German artist Raoul Hausmann is known as a "poster poem," that is, it tells a story visually. The centerpiece is a photo of the artist. The various letters and numbers allow the viewer to think deeply about the piece to put them in some kind of sensible order.
Jean Arp Collage Arranged According to the Laws of Chance, 1917
To create this collage, Arp stood above a canvas and dropped squares of colored paper, gluing them wherever they fell. This piece serves as a prime example of Dada's "anti-art" aims, as it places all artistry on chance and eliminates conscious creativity.
Raoul Hausmann The Spirit of Our Time, 1920
The Spirit of Our Time represents Raoul Hausmann's dissatisfaction with the German government. He viewed them as brainless, incapable, and blind. and his use of an expressionless dummy in this work effectively conveys his opinion. The artifacts glued to the outside of the dummy's head do nothing to aid its critical thinking. It is a corrupt, blank member of society.
Max Ernst The Chinese Nightingale, 1920
Max Ernst was a great artist whose works were by no means limited to Dada. This work is a collage of different things, from fans and tombs to arms and eyes. The body of the creature is a large bomb. The end result is quite ridiculous, and the whimsy of the piece offsets the general fear associated with bombs. Ernst produced many similar works during wartime, which combined military images to create humorous collages.
Marcel Duchamp L.H.O.O.Q., 1919
Another one of Duchamp's readymades, L.H.O.O.Q. is often perceived as an attack on traditional art and classical artistic ideals. It was created to bastardize, mock, and offend. A commentator describes Duchamp's parody as "a major stroke of epater le bourgeois." L.H.O.O.Q. has inspired many other contemporary artists to change and add onto traditional works.
DADA ART CHARACTERISTICS
Dada art did not have one specific style, because to tie such a movement down to one aesthetic would be anti-Dada. Instead, specific artists used whichever media they needed to convey their protests. Artists such as Raoul Hausmann used bland color and pasted-together, collage-like aesthetics. The limited color palettes demonstrate the artist's dissatisfaction with the government and the brutality of the world, and the collage elements draw the eye to all parts of the work and inspire the viewer to think about the meaning. Several artists used very unconventional methods of artistry in order to create their works. Jean Arp and Marcel Duchamp were particularly famous for this. Duchamp was particularly fond of found objects and presenting virtually unchanged things as art. He called them "readymades" and this style of art became very popular among Dada artists. Arp created without creativity - that is, he used the laws of random chance, dropping objects on paper in order to create collages. Both these men were pioneers of the Dada movement and subverted typical ideas of what it means to be an artist.