>Please explain "dada" to me! Seriously....I know it has been used with
r/s.
>And yes, I know it is what little toddlers call their daddies...dada! <g>
Carolyn's answer:
It was an art movement which came about after WWI, the purpose of which was
to express the despair and confusion over the brutality of the modern world
and challenge the attitudes about what constitutes art. (So I remember from
art history class). Here is a quote from the book "Neo-Dada: Redefining
Art" by Susan Hapgood: "Artists' use of chance as a compositional method,
their interest in performance and other ephemeral manifestations, and their
challenges to the conventional exhibition, distribution, and commodification
of art all reflect major shifts effected by Dada."
It is believed by many that Dada lives on in Mail Art. The use of collage
(incorporating ready-made stuff), chance (add and pass on projects for
example), ephemera (sending random envelopes of junk that are meant to be
broken up and redistributed, cutting up old mail art and making new),
performance (the act of going to the box, opening the mail, especially at an
exhibit, where sometimes guests at the exhibit send something back),
challenge to conventional exhibition (sending it in the mail instead of
showing in a gallery), and commodification (exchange only, no money), all
support that thinking.
I suppose that whenever you see randomness, collage, found objects, temporary
works (like sand sculpture or fire sculpture), performance art, multimedia
presentations and such, you are seeing Dada influence.
The book I quoted from lists the following well-known artists as
practitioners of Neo-Dada (1958-62) so you can associate something you might
have seen with what I've just written: Jasper Johns, Yves Klein, Andy
Warhol, Yoko Ono, Claes Oldenburg, Jim Dine, just to name a few.
I hope that helps. Sorry if my writing is incoherent, I just woke up not too
long ago! Perhaps someone else on the list can give a better explaination or
do it more concisely. I love Dada! If you want to discuss
the subject further, feel free!
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Accept no Substitute...other than
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