Surrealism and Dada - Essay Example

DADA AND SURREALISM By Introduction Art is ified according to periods or movements in which theywere created in, period or movement in this context referring to a style or tendency in making art in which artists shared common philosophical goals. In short, it is a period within which artists agreed on similar (general) principles and created art with similar features that can be classified under the same category. The said, agreeing principles may be guided by religion, society, culture, technology, or time, to mention but a few. To elaborate on how certain aspects inspire the emergence of an art movement, the following study essay will evaluate two art movements; Dada and surrealism, giving their inspiring factors, how they differ, and how they are similar to each other. Dada Art This art movement emerged around the 20th century in Hannover, Berlin, Paris, New York and Zurich. History has it that the movement was born out of resistance, inspired by the war, World War I, that was going on. Dada art was about provocation and confrontation of the already established (ancient) values of art, going against all the set norms. There is evidence that Dadaists were against the colonialist and bourgeois nationalist interests who to them were the initiators of the war, and as such, resisted much of what society had been accustomed to, and art was not an exception. In short, it was the opposite of what art used to be, and there was no following of any set rules. Under the wider Dadaism, there was graphic design, poetry, theatre, and most importantly visual arts. The main attribute of Dada art was that it was meant to provoke an emotional reaction from the audience, and particularly outrage or shock, and when any form of art intended to be Dada failed in achieving these attributes, it had to be taken back to the drawing board until it achieved its mandate. Art would only be attributed to as being Dada if it resisted the societal norms, or rather, the type of art that people were accustomed to, and it had to exhibit features such as being nihilistic, deliberately irrational, being random, show cynic disillusionment, and generally reject all prevailing (prior) standards of art. Ernst’s The Christ Child is an example of the disfiguring of art; for instance, artist usually depicted Christ’s paintings as holy and respected. However this painting was different as it shows (assumingly) the Virgin Mary punishing the Christ Child. Figure 1: Max Ernst, The Christ Child In terms of medium, there were no specifications, rather, the artists were free to exercise whatever they felt would help them achieve their styles, and these ranged from using ready-made objects, assemblage, photomontage, and collage amongst others. In addition, it contrasted to what society was used to, that is largely perceiving of art as only made up of paintings and drawings since it introduced Constructivism, that is creating of artwork by use of ready-made materials. It is also linked to the emergence of other art periods such as Surrealism. Dadaism faded out of the art scene in the 1920s. Surrealism art Surrealism was born as a cultural movement when Dadaism was fading out in the 1920s era that was during the events of World War I. Its primary focuses were visual arts and literature. It was largely influenced by the cultural perception that the reign of immorality was responsible for the emergence of the First World War, and as such, produced work that depicted intense resistance and nihilism against the negative systems. Its epicentre was Paris from where is spread to affect larger regions of the globe. The surrealism artists agreed on depicting works with many elements of surprise, juxtapositions, and nonsensical compositions. The nonsensical aspect could be reflected in some of its aspects such as automatic drawing in which the hand was allowed to make random marks on paper as a means of “expressing the conscious”1. In prior art forms, this could be termed as abnormal but surrealist artists actually pushed for its acceptance. These can be collectively termed as startling or unusual art in which the artist culture of seeking freedom through revelation of their intense thinking and imagination as figure 1 below shows: Figure 2: Salvador Dali, The Persistence of Memory Similarities The first similarity between the two art styles or periods is that they were both inspired by the events of the First World War, and that both felt it was an unacceptable occurrence that required a revolution. In its pursuance of the revolution, the day’s culture was influenced in all aspects including art, and that led to the two styles’ alteration of the norms of creating art. For instance, they produced artwork from ready-made objects, and invented “thought-provoking” and startling art. The other similarity is that they did not specify on what mediums were to be used in the creation of the art; rather, artists were free to use whatever materials or techniques they preferred as long as their art was within the “agreed” principles. This can be seen in The Love Song by De Chirico below; it had a floating head of a Greco-Roman next to a large love both based on a cityscape. The materials are different, and the floating head and gigantic glove overly leave one wondering what the intention of combining these was. Figure 3: De Chirico, Love Song The final similarity between the two is that they both supported constructivism, that is the diversion from the accustomed way of doing art in painting and drawing to use of realistic and ready-made objects in coming up with new compositions. As such, they both contributed to the emergence of constructivism. Differences The first difference between them is that Dadaism was directly inspired by the events of the First World War, whereas Surrealism was indirectly inspired by the same, but directly inspired by Dadaism. In the creation of the works, Dadaism can be termed as a form of art that rejected all other prior art norms, that is, it was done by focusing on what was real art and doing its opposite. On the other hand, surrealism was more about revolutionary art whose interpretation was based on the observer’s impression and imagination. Concisely, Surrealism was more of art inspired by bringing out one’s subconscious self. The final difference is that the Dadaism artists were more innovative than the Surrealist ones in that Surrealism was derived from Dadaism ideologies, and as such, its ideologies were more dilute than they were in the Dada period2. Conclusion The above comparison supports the fact that art movements are constructed from certain aspects of human society where in this case cultural factors led to the emergence of Surrealism and Dadaism. It is evident that each movement was defined unique principles by which one could classify them into their respective periods. This is furthered by the comparison of the two closely-related movements wherein in as much as they contain similarities, they also portray some differences which are used to tell them apart. Bibliography Kleiner Fred, Gardener’s Art Through the Ages: A Concise Global History, 2008, Cengage. Willette Jeanne, “Comparison of Dada and Surrealism,” Art History Unstuffed, http://www.arthistoryunstuffed.com/comparison-of-dada-and-surrealism/(Accessed May 8, 2014). Read More