The History of DADA

[supersop]

The article was written by Shelley Esaak:

"Shelley Esaak is a portrait artist, freelance illustrator and graphic designer, writer and educator.

Experience:

Shelley has written the About.com Art History site since 2003. Having worked in most mediums herself, she enjoys spirited discourse with fellow artists and art enthusiasts, maintains that anyone with an open mind can always learn something new and appreciates that readers often provide her with opportunities to do both.

Education:

Shelley majored in Illustration at Kendall College of Art and Design, and Graphic Design, with a minor concentration in Art History, at the University of Michigan School of Art and Design."

[BRASSO]

I'm not sure that the Blue Devil's show fits into what I've read about Dada.

"Dada had only one rule: Never follow any known rules."

BD is playing to the sheets. They do it well. Each portion of the corps performs with excellent technique. They're following established rules and norms.

Not so Dada...

To me, it's more of the same from them. I happen to like this year's show, but I can still criticize it... Perhaps that Dada of me?

If you stop making sense, you're probably a Dadaist.But right now JJ, I'm sorry Man, you don't make the cut. You seem to have a brain that works pretty well to me from reading most of your posts on here.

Edited July 23, 2012 by BRASSO

[BRASSO]

The article was written by Shelley Esaak:

"Shelley Esaak is a portrait artist, freelance illustrator and graphic designer, writer and educator.

Experience:

Shelley has written the About.com Art History site since 2003. Having worked in most mediums herself, she enjoys spirited discourse with fellow artists and art enthusiasts, maintains that anyone with an open mind can always learn something new and appreciates that readers often provide her with opportunities to do both.

Education:

Shelley majored in Illustration at Kendall College of Art and Design, and Graphic Design, with a minor concentration in Art History, at the University of Michigan School of Art and Design."

She sounds like she qualifies as one of the Beautiful People to me.

[fsubone]

Wasn't there also a great deal of alienation caused by a self-perceived sense of intellectual superiority? Weren't the Dadaists satisfied believing they were smarter than everyone else and thus, becoming too mainstream was threatening this perceived "superiority?" Admired the mastery, loved the Satie, am not afraid of the discussion, am not a raving fan.

Pretty much. The Dadaists were a bunch of very pretentious, rich kids who ran off to Switzerland so they didn't have to go defend their countries in World War 1, and lived off daddy's money and their perceived intellectual superiority over the "common people". That's why they thought that they could do whatever they wanted, and it had to be considered "Dada", because there were no rules, so they could make anything fit into their definition of it. And it eventually collapsed because more people began to get into it, and it became "mainstream". Which is fine with me. It sucked then, and it sucks now. It's like the post-modern art you might see somehow in a museum, where it's just four lines squiggled on a canvas, and gets sold for millions of dollars.

[fsubone]

Although, I can't imagine a parent shelling out cash to support their grown childs "bad behavior" for 7 years before yanking the silver spoon. They obviously had some success considering the offshoots of their "NON"movement.

With the brutality of World War 1 going on, I'm sure they weren't the only parents who paid to get their child out of the draft. I'm sure they would rather have supported whatever it was they were doing in Zurich than worry about them fighting in a trench. it was a luxury very, very few could afford

Their movement had success within its own circle, but really never achieved much mainstream support. Remember what else the world was going through at the time. A World War killing millions, the Spanish influenza that broke out in 1918-1921, and the economic issues that had begun swirling around 1920. There were many more things for the world to concern itself with instead of a bunch of kids making "anti-art" in Switzerland.

Edited July 23, 2012 by fsubone

[N.E. Brigand]

The Dadaists were a bunch of very pretentious, rich kids who ran off to Switzerland so they didn't have to go defend their countries in World War I

If only more people on one side or the other had opted not to defend their country, that particularly horrible and pointless war might have ended a lot sooner.

[supersop]

Well, I guess they figured they could either let their "precious little babies" do what they wanted in Zurich instead of them dying in a trench. Guess it was a decision. Their movement had success within its own circle, but really never achieved much mainstream support. Remember what else the world was going through at the time. A World War killing millions, the Spanish influenza that broke out in 1918-1921, and the economic issues that had begun swirling around 1920. There were many more things for the world to concern itself with instead of a bunch of kids making "anti-art" in Switzerland.

Taking modern problems into consideration ... you just crushed my concept of the importance of drum corps

[Rifuarian]

Pretty much. The Dadaists were a bunch of very pretentious, rich kids who ran off to Switzerland so they didn't have to go defend their countries in World War 1, and lived off daddy's money and their perceived intellectual superiority over the "common people". That's why they thought that they could do whatever they wanted, and it had to be considered "Dada", because there were no rules, so they could make anything fit into their definition of it. And it eventually collapsed because more people began to get into it, and it became "mainstream". Which is fine with me. It sucked then, and it sucks now. It's like the post-modern art you might see somehow in a museum, where it's just four lines squiggled on a canvas, and gets sold for millions of dollars.

I'm no fan of Dadaism, but your assessment isn't completely fair. Some of the Dadaists were rich, certainly most of them were pretentious, but most of them weren't cowards. Several Dadaists went on to fight in the Spanish Civil War on the side of the Republicans, some fought in various resistance movements in WWI. Some tried to enlist but were turned away for various reasons. The movement, like all art movements at that time, was heavily German . . . and many of the Germans were horrified at the aggression showed by their nation, particularly towards neutral countries such as Belgium. Imperial Germany was by no means a totalitarian dictatorship, but voicing your opposition to the war was by no means an easy thing to do (likewise in all the countries that participated, including the US). Additionally, many of the more serious, thoughtful responses to the war - often by men who served in the conflict - were very much influenced by Dada even if they weren't Dadaist themselves. My favorite of these is Otto Dix.

As a historian I find World War I and the period surrounding it to be endlessly fascinating and complex. It's overshadowed by WWII, which is unfortunate because I consider the Great War to be the more important of the two. The upshot of this is that many of us today know very little about this point in time, making it too easy to make snap judgments about the actions or inaction of those lived through it all.

Good discussion, though it has sweet FA to do with BD's show. Old school VK might have been able to teach as a thing or two about Dada. That was a corps that was very serious about being non-serious.

Edited July 23, 2012 by Rifuarian

[fsubone]

If only more people on one side or the other had opted not to defend their country, that particularly horrible and pointless war might have ended a lot sooner.

Not really. Since most countries had a draft instituted if you couldn't buy your way out of it, there wasn't much of a choice. And for most people at the time, the army was the only way to secure four meals and a paycheck. And people were fighting for their country. No one wants to be invaded, so they were fighting to defend their homelands. I agree that World War 1 was terrible, but it luckily ended as soon as it did. It could have easily lasted 5 or more years longer. The Germans just happened to run out of money to finance it.

[fsubone]

Taking modern problems into consideration ... you just crushed my concept of the importance of drum corps

Sorry? I was just giving some perspective on what caused the Dada movement to collapse, and why it was seen as such a small thing in the grand scale of the 1910s-1920s.