The Art Of Dadaism

Dadaism was an artistic movement that echoed the suffering and violence of war. The organized anarchy served as powerful venues for expression. In Europe, 1916, Dadaism posed a reflection of the political fare by bringing to the forefront of society. Unlike Romanticism, Dadaism was a rude awakening to the affairs of the day instead of an escape. Dadaism reflected many artists’ views of WWI; believing that war was a folly. There is no single style to denote a piece of art work as Dadaism. It was an ideology of art as a vehicle for social change. Dada artist used everyday objects to create their works of art. Marcel Duchamp, and others like him, didn’t believe that oil, fresco, or canvas made the inane, revolutionary, evocative works of art that were labeled Dada. Dadaism was a rejection of bourgeois culture during the Great War and Dada artists intentionally used irrational nonsense, satire and irony in an attempt to bring sense to the world around them (2009). Dada has a multitude of meanings: German it meant good-bye, ‘till we see each other again, get off my back; Romanian it means yes, you’re right, definitely.
Born out of anger, Dadaism was quelled as quickly as it rose. Artists engaged in protest movements throughout war stricken Europe and was as nonsensical as their products. Chaos impregnated the war-wrenched society that teetered on the brink of destruction by offending the goodness found in humanism with silliness. They were the “class clowns” of the art world. They were comically motivated; but, unconventionally handling what they deemed as insanity of war. It seemed to be a precursor to the “free love” movement of the sixties. Make art, not war…make love, not war! Dada made perfect sense: complete rejection of the unquestioning society that drove Europe into a senseless war (2009). Duchamp rejected art for its aesthetic perseverance. He became the juvenile delinquent of the art world. Duchamp’s infamous “ready-made” art, also known as shock art, changed the course of realistic art. The most famous of these works was The Fountain; a urinal turned on its side and poised as a drinking fountain. His work is illogical, confusing, and dripping in sarcasm of relevant social events. Duchamp, Marcel. The Fountain. 1917. Porcelain.

As much as The Fountain was a tongue-n-cheek witticism on the art world, it was also a statement about the foundations of aesthetically pleasing art. Dadaism was art that was meant to send a jolt. What is art? Who decides what art is? Dechump placed an ordinary article of everyday life and stripped it of its original usefulness by repurposing it as a new object of art. In 1917, Dechamp’s humor was overlooked or misunderstood. But, it sparked the next art eras: Surrealism and Pop Art. Today, many artists utilize commonplace objects as art. Oldenburg, Claes. Clothespin. 1976. Weathering steel. Variations of a theme are found throughout history. Modern versions of the crucifixion, Dechamp’s The Fountain, and Rodin’s Thinker are among the list of most replicated. And, oddly enough inhabit an intertwining story. Dadaism was known for pushing the limits of anti-arts and anti-war soliloquies.

Piss Christ by Andres Serrano was a photograph of a plastic crucifix plunged into a container of the artist’s bodily fluids. Serrano and Duchamp created

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