The Dada movement emerged in the early 20th century as a form of protest as a result of atrocities of the World War I. Dadaism is a form of artistic anarchy arising from the disgust for the political, social, and cultural values of the time. Artists in the movement embraced elements of art, music, poetry, theater, dance and politics (Hutchinson, 2011). It is nevertheless prudent to point out that Dadaism was anti-art movement as it didn’t copy much from cubism, fauvism, expressionism and abstraction. In essence, there was no dominant artistic medium in the movement, but instead, it was more of a Protestant movement. It initially started in Zurich and New York before spreading to other parts of Europe especially in Germany and France. In essence, Dada movement is a good example of how artists can use artistry to protest against antisocial behaviors in the society.

As aforementioned, the Dada movement was an artistic way of protesting to the widespread destruction and carnage emanating from the World War I.   A good number of European artists, led by Tristan Tzara, considered it absurd that such vocal nationalist pride could bring about events like trench and chemical warfare as well as cause deaths to millions of people. They were of the opinion that if the rational world can lead to such destructions, then, the rules that govern a rational world no longer applies (Hutchinson, 2011). Consequently, proponents of Dada movement wanted to use art to express their disgust. The use of art to express their disgust as opposed to the norms of Bourgeois Culture and illuminated idiocies of society made many to refer to the movement as anti-art. Dada’s aesthetic, marked by its mockery of materialistic and nationalistic attitudes, proved a powerful influence on artists in many cities, such as Berlin, Paris, Hannover, New York, and Cologne, all of which generated their groups. The movement dissipated with the establishment of Surrealism.

The Dada movement was different from other arts simply because the artists were not focused on crafting aesthetically pleasing objects but instead they used art to bring essential issues that affected the society. The actions of the movement sought to tear down the definition of art where their artistic style left the society with a lot to ponder. It was a style characterized by artistic anarchy, chance placement, and absurd titles. It is also worth noting that the artists in this movement had no unifying style and as a result, the group attracted different types of artists between 1917-1920 including Hannah Höch, Francis Picabia, John Heartfield, Marcel Duchamp and Kurt Schwitters just mentioning a few (Katsouraki, 2013). The Dada movement was also characterized with confrontations and provocations where they attacked traditional artistic values with irrational attitudes and provoked conservative complacency with outrageous actions and statements. They also launched a full-scale assault on the art world which they saw as part of the system. It was considered equally culpable and consequently had to be toppled.

It is important to note that Dadaism questioned the value of all art and whether its existence was simply an indulgence of the bourgeoisie. The motive of the movement was to ensure that they create a climate in which art was alive to the moment and not paralyzed by the traditions and restrictions of the established values. The movement was against any other form of art as they believed that art was part of culture and society that created war (Hutchinson, 2011). Then art was just as much of influence as anything else; this is why the Dadaist took such a high anti-art attitude. Although the art passed the necessary information, most of the Dada exhibitions were provocative and hence closed by the authorities. In a nutshell, Dada was anti-establishment and anti-art.

References

Hutchinson, M. (2011). Anti-public: Dada, negation and universality. Art & The Public Sphere, 1(2), 121-137. http://dx.doi.org/10.1386/aps.1.2.121_1

Katsouraki, E. (2013). Violating Failures: Rosa Luxemburg’s Spartacus Manifesto and Dada Berlin Anti-manifestation. Somatechnics, 3(1), 50-71. http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/soma.2013.0078

 
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