The Origin of the Dada Movement - Essay Example

Dada Movement of the Name of the Concerned Professor November 4, 2008 Dada Movement It is my firm conviction that the origin of Dada movement had its moorings in the socio-political history of the early 19th century Europe. Till the later half of the 18th century, a sense of stagnation had settled in the European art world that desperately yearned for a fresh perspective on life. The predominant art circles had been tamed by now into cherishing and adoring the traditional values and ethics. Much of it had to do with the ambience of relative peace, prosperity and abundance in the Western socio-economic framework, which encouraged a spirit of euphoria and aimed at giving some concrete meaning to life. Political affiliations played a conclusive and directive role in the art movements of the times. It was held to be an inviolable rule that the art aught to spring out from the human desperation for assigning some black and white meaning to life and must hence be meaningful and conventional. Elaborate philosophies were built around art movements and art evolved into a highly institutionalized form of self expression. Bourgeois ideas of taste and decorum dominated the art world and artists used to work with a coveting eye on the market value of their art. There was set a standard of beauty and taste and the art was strictly expected to cater to such calibrated specifications. The artistic urge for experimentation had been diluted and subdued over the years and the art was turning out to be a very predictable and complacent aspect of life. Then we had the World War I that mercilessly exposed the sense of waste and nihilism embedded deep in the Western consciousness. The unrestrained violence and mayhem that embodied the spirits of the times gave way to a sense of disillusionment with the established standards of meaning and value. The sacrosanct and well entrenched ideas about ethics and norms simply crumpled before the carnage let loose by the till now invisible human affiliation with violence and rage. The cardinal quest for imbuing life with some sort of meaning and purpose, now seemed to be irrelevant and unrealistically ambitious and arrogant. The set standards of beauty and good taste turned out to be a superficial and artificial faade that simply faded away before the corrosive impact of times and underneath it emerged a scenario dominated by frustration, disappointment and a pathetic loss of hope. I believe that this moment in the European history represented a unique aspect of human consciousness that was the hallmark of those times. Such a frustrated state of human psyche desperately yearned for some sort of artistic expression and release and Dada movement symbolized the human endeavor to give some discernable form to this human obsession with waste and confusion My main objective behind writing this paper is to somehow analyze the genesis and relevance of Dada movement with the local and international communication communities. The world today is as much in danger of being gagged and benumbed by a sense of stagnation and inertia as it was in the times that led to the flowering of Dada movement. Such a crisis gives way to a plethora of queries pertaining to Dada movement. Was Dada movement just a fluke unleashed by the circumstantial desperation or was it a phenomenon built around authentic and desirable aspirations Does Dada movement have any meaning and relevance for the contemporary art lovers Above all, will Dada art succeed in soliciting the reverence and attention from the contemporary connoisseurs or will it unceremoniously succumb to a looming apathy and aversion, which was its fate in the days of the yore. It is said that history repeats itself and much to my surprise, I have discovered that that the contemporary relevance of Dada movement can be grasped only by dabbling into the origins of Dada art According to the Oxford dictionary of art, the emergence of Dada movement represented a unique phase in the history of European art (1915-1922) that ardently aspired to let loose an "anarchic revolt" against the traditional and conservative notions about values and ethics (Chilvers, P.1). Dada movement was an artistic response to the "nihilism, cynicism and irony" that gripped the human psyche in the wake of the World War I (Chilvers, P.1). In its nascent stage, Dada movement developed and flourished in the relatively neutral countries like the US and Switzerland (Chilvers, p.1). However, with the passage of time, this art movement gradually spread to Germany and many other European countries (Esaak, 2008). Dadaists used the medium of art to mock at the society and culture that was considered to be the paragon of impeccability and perfection, till the World War I shattered such self complacent and smug ideas of civilization. Dadaists resorted to extreme sort of "provocative behavior" in their creations, with the sole purpose of shocking the masses out of their culturally induced torpor of complacency and corruption (Chilvers, p.1). They vehemently attacked all the institutionalized forms of art and ridiculed the bourgeois ideas of beauty and grace (The Art History Archive, 2008). A significant number of art critics of those times considered the Dada art to be a sick manifestation of destructive minds (Huelsenback, 1991, p.17). I would certainly not be wrong to say that the problems being faced today by the individuals with a cosmopolitan mindset are exactly the same as the dilemma that was faced by the masses in 1915. The forces of globalization have let loose a culture of diversity and the youth of today is desperately looking for the sources of inspiration that defy repression and status quo. That is why the exhibitions of the Dada art are turning out to be a great success the world over. An exhibition organized by the New York Museum of Art attracted the art lovers from all across the US. Going by the Dada panache for off beat techniques and devices, the museum exhibited about 450 films, sculptures, photomontages, paintings and collages by nearly 50 artists (The Washington Times, 2006, p.1). The Dada creations exhibited at Georges Pompidou Center in Paris clearly exuded a strong aversion for the "artistic and intellectual conventions" of all the ages and times (The New York Times, 2005, p.1). Dada was certainly a short lived but influential movement that still continues to inspire the masses the world over (Riding, 2005, P.2). The overall character of Dada art is conclusively rebellious and iconoclastic that goes well with the spirit of the contemporary times (Sullivan, 2006, p.2). Though ostensibly non-sensical, "Dada pursued a larger cultural politics that complemented its radical and ground breaking aesthetic (Kramer, 2001, p.3). The implicit objective harbored by Dadaists was to challenge all sorts of totalitarianism, political repression and hierarchy (Internet Bookwatch, 2007, p.1). Dada was both a radical and at the same time an absurd art movement that exhumed the eternal question that is "What is art (Robinson, 2006, p.1)" This question is as poignant and relevant today, as in any other times. Considering its maniac energy and exuberance of ideas, Dada is ever fresh and for all the ages and times (Zeaman, 2006, p.3). As per my personal opinion, though the Dadaists themselves declared the premature demise of their movement, only a few years after it was conceived in 1915, their attitudes and concerns about society, economics, art and life are still very much alive and pulsating in the 21st century. Dadaists not only attempted to redefine art and do away with all the festering conventions and rules, but they also criticized and opposed the repressive social and economic systems of their times and thus their appeal to the masses transcends all affiliations of nationality, time and ideology. For an art movement that metamorphosed into a social and political protest, Dada movement has certainly succeeded in achieving most of its objectives, considering the fact that it all started in the name of 'nonsense'. Infact, Dada art movement was a complete revolution in itself that was as important and poignant as all the other revolutions that swept the world stage. Total Words: 1,342 References Chilvers, I. Dada. The Oxford Dictionary of Art. Retrieved November 4, 2008, from http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1O2-Dada.html Dada (Book Review). (2007). Internet Bookwatch. Retrieved, November 4, 2008, from http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-159331084.html Dada- The Anti-War Movement. (2008). The Art History Archive. Retrieved November 4, 2008, from http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/dada /arthistory_dada.html Deconstructing Dada; Startling protest images at National Gallery of Art. The Washington Times. Retrieved November 4, 2008, from http://www.highbeam .com/doc/1G1-142281610.html Esaak, S. (2008). Dada- Art History 101 Basics. About.com. Retrieved November 4, 2008, from http://arthistory.about.com/cs/arthistory10one/a/dada.htm Huelsenback, R. (1991). Memoirs of a Dada Drummer. Berkley: University of California Press. Kramer, .A. (2001). Crisis and the arts: The history of Dada. The Modern Language Review. Retrieved November 4, 2008, from http://www.highbeam .com/doc/1G1-74339552.html Riding, A. (2005). After almost a century, is Dada still among us A Paris show Sees its influences everywhere. International Herald Tribune. Retrieved November 4, 2008, from http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-114153114.html Show in Paris frames Dada as a Movement of Lasting Influence. (2005). The New York Times. Retrieved November 4, 2008, from http://www.highbeam. .com/doc/1S1-2101129020630247.html Sullivan, M.O. (2006). Dada: Ready-Made Disobedience. The Washington Post. Retrieved November 5, 2008, from http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2- 107786.html Zeaman, J. (2006). Dissecting the method to Dada's madness. The Record. Retrieved November 4, 2008, from http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-12561 4687.html Read More