What is Dadaism? - Ashley

What is Dadaism? After discussing Dadaism in class I was curious to learn more about it. Dadaism or Dada was said to be more of a cultural movement in visual arts, that came about after World War I. It also had influence on some theatre, graphic design and literature, but mostly poetry. The movement was described to be a protest against the inhumane acts of the war. The artists, called Dadaists believed that it was an 'oppressive intellectual rigidity in both art and everyday society; its works were characterized by a deliberate irrationality and the rejection of the prevailing standards of art.' It later had influence in the movement of surrealism. Although it didn't originate in New York, there were many active dadaists found there. These included Marcel Duchamp and Beatrice Wood. Around this time there were movements of dadaism all around the world such as, Berlin, Cologne and Paris. Dada's influence reached out in to sound and music: Kurt Schwitters developed what he called "sound poems" and composers such as Erwin Schulhoff, Hans Heusser and Albert Savinio began writing "dada music", while members of Les Six collaborated with dada movement members and had pieces played at dada gatherings. Dada then began to die with the onset of World War II, and moved on to influence other art movements. The picture of the fountain above was one of Duchamp's most popular works. People, myself included, might look at that and wonder why that is art to some people because to us it could simply be explained as a urinal, however the artist takes it and makes it a work of its own in this time of dadaism where everything is "readymade".