Dada is the artistic and literary movement that emerged during World War I. Dada was a revolt against the culture and social convention of which people started to question the validity after witnessing the brutality of World War I. Dada artists or writers no longer believed that their work needs to be picturesque and flawless. Whereas the traditional artists and writers considered that aesthetic and perfection of their work is primary, as Hugo Ball wrote, “For us, art is not an end in itself,” for Dada artists and writers, the aesthetic of their work was not as important as the idea itself. Confronting the established traditions of art or literature, Dada became the first major anti-art/literature movement. Apart from not meeting the …show more content…
It might contain the meaning behind. However, if the audience cannot find the meaning, then there is no meaning. “Modern art” is too subjective; it is more a therapy than an art. If the audience does not appreciate for the work’s beauty or does not see the meaning behind, it cannot be classified as art. Rather, it is a mere piece of individual’s subjective expressions done. The painting No. 5, 1948 by Jackson Pollock is the painting of different liquid oil colors randomly drizzled all over the fiberboard. Just with the random all-over lines, this painting is way too abstract to find its beauty or meaning. If it can be called an artwork, then everything can be seen as art. And ultimately, there is no reason to praise artworks or go to famous art museums because everything around us is art.
Similarly, dada music cannot be classified as music. The definition of music is “vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion.” However, John Cage 's 4 '33 ' ' has neither vocal nor instrumental sounds, and therefore, it does not produce beauty of form or harmony. Although the audience can hear the sounds come from the surroundings or themselves, it is not the piece itself they listen to. Without listening to the piece, the sound of silence for 4 minutes and 33 seconds is what people can create whenever they want. Also, what people hear during the
However, all art changes after the war. Artists were trying to make sense of the horrible world around them and became abstract artists that they believed they could leave the world and become abstract. They thought that they could heal themselves by going into their dreams and escape the world. At the same time, the constructivists were looking at modern technology with hopes to heal the world with new things and technology. Dada reacted to WWI and made anti-arts against the romantic idealism of war. For example, Dada made Mona Lisa has whiskers because Mona Lisa symbolized old world art. In Russia, they have social realism which depicts strength and progress and this is another reaction to World War I. People were making art with the belief of communism. They believed that communism could heal the world and that people could unite and become strong to make Russia a healthy country, which didn’t work. Both WWI & WWII were very influential with art history, but WWII is more devastating with 70 million people died. Almost everyone was affected by this war. Europe is devastated, so the art world shifts to America and abstract expressionist artists appear- Freud’s student Carl Jung, is an expressionist artist who believed in the importance of spiritual world and not
Impactful across the globe, both Dada and Surrealism were artistic movements created in the early 20th century that were significant in redefining modern art today. The Dada movement came about in 1916 through the performance of Hugo Ball’s sound poem “Karawane” at the Cabaret Voltaire that he opened with his partner, nightclub singer Emmy Hennings, in Zurich, Switzerland. The poem made absolutely no sense, purposely, and it didn’t have to. Ball would also dress in wild costumes for his performances as seen below:
4’33”, also known as “four minutes thirty-three seconds of silence”, is the most famous and most controversial musical creation of the American experimental composer John Cage (1921 – 1992). Known best for his unusual or different kinds of compositions, Cage composed this piece in 1952 for any instrument or group of instruments and divided it into 3 movements, throughout which the performer is instructed not to play the instrument during the entire 4 minutes and thirty-three seconds. And despite the fact that it is commonly known as “the silent piece”, it aims to manifest or stress the sounds of the environment heard while it is performed, the
John cage mentioned the idea of 4’33’’ which is the idea of a completely silence piece during a lecture at Vassar College in 1947, A composer’s Confessions. By that time he felt that such a piece with completely silence would be incornprehensible and unacceptable by musicians and composers. As a matter of fact, 4’33’’ did a really important contribution to not only modern music but also the whole art area. The
I personally think that there is art whenever we go, it could be on video games, publicity, television, on the streets, on our homes, etc. Also, I have always thought that art should have a real meaning or at least try to communicate any type of ideas or thoughts, and that is important the it exist a connection between history and the rest of the world. However, what does Hughes exactly means by "meaning"? because the idea of meaning is very relative. People can find a meaning in almost anything depending on the on which perspective are you viewing. Therefore, we cannot judge if modern art has become meaningless or not, since not
Dada, known for it’s chaotic nature, indirect protesting and iconoclasm also evolved into a political movement. Rejection of artistic mastery, defying authority, overprinting, and purposeful mistakes, where all a part of what Tristain Tzara and his contemporaries were trying to succeed. Cubism, Vorticism, Orphism, Purism, and Futurism also came about because of World War I. Heavily influenced by Cubism and it’s shattered glass appearance Futurism was the most politically mind of these five movements. Somewhat akin to Dada in it’s chaotic nature Futurist’s, however, were staunchly pro war and were looking for ways to bring Italy into the present times. Purism, on the other hand, took the collage look of synthetic Cubism and modern abstract style and made
For instance, Cage has claimed in a interview that he loves sounds just how they are and they do not to be anymore than they already (John Cage about Silence). In more simpler terms, he is asserting the fact that he believes planned out music with specific notes and certain melodies is no better than the sounds heard through daily life. Moreover, the significance one might find in 4'33" is the utter simplicity and beauty that can be found within the piece because of it's compelling and influential nature (Pritchett, 10). Another concept that made Cage's music one of the most misunderstood pieces ever written is how people now a days are often used to music being in an exact way. Music in today's society is at a certain pace of tempo, contain repetitive chants, and a specific rhythmic pattern. Yet, for many, Cage's 4'33" was a kind of artistic prayer in a serene, calm environment that opened the ears and allowed one to hear the world anew. Likewise, Cage used an act of framing, of enclosing environmental and unintended sounds in a moment of attention in order to open the mind to the fact that all sounds are music (Kyle Gann, 2). The essential reason behind this new approach to listening is to establish a new understanding of music itself by blurring the traditional boundaries between art and life. Overall, the context within Cage's composition is different to every person since each individual finds a distinct interpretation because sounds can not be replicated to be sounded the same in every
John Cage (1912-1992) was an American composer whose most famous work is actually not music at all. The piece is called, 4’33”, otherwise known as “The Silent Piece”, is just that, four minutes and 33 seconds of silence. Since I didn’t know what to expect, I thought the sound on my computer was broken!!! I waited and waited for him to begin, then, just like that, it was over. The significance of the piece is its simplicity. It is meant to teach us that there is no such thing as “true silence” (NPR). No matter how quiet you think it is, there is always a sound if you are still and listen carefully to what is actually going on around you. The piece was fist played in August 1952 in a tiny auditorium called Maverick Concert Hall in Hurley, New York and the musicians sat on stage for four minutes and 33 seconds.
Silence is a time for the true self to connect to the flow of energy around. For the silent piece “4’33”, the performance usually goes like this: a performer goes on stage, sits at the piano and opens the keyboard lid but sits quietly for the duration with seldom turns of music pages. After each movement, the performer closes and reopens the lid and sits again, at the end he closes the lid, bows and walks off stage (Peter Gutmann, 1). However, the reactions of the audience and the sound of the environment is what create the music. The tension builds in the hall because people are confronted with an unexpected silence which stimulates many responses and makes sounds r through the ruffling of the audience and the area of the hall. In the hall, coughing, sneezing, un-wrapping of gum or mints, shifting in seats, opening a door, the air conditioning, or any other aspect can occur as the nature of the outside world such as wind, the passing of an airplane, crunching of leaves, and other natural aspects also occur (Eric Rockwell, 1). This piece becomes a personal sound because every listener can create their own reaction. Overall the balance between nature and human sounds are what John Cage considers music. Each sound has a distinct tone and duration that the audience can become aware of instead of how they usually disregard it. Through this silent piece, Cage helps the audience see that
The art movement that occurred before World War II and that began as a way of protest was the Dada movement. Dadaism was born in Zurich, Switzerland – more specifically in the heart of the night club the Cabaret Voltaire in 1916, founded by leading Dada artist Hugo Ball. Dadaism was an anti-war movement that provided criticism of both capitalist and European culture, creating what was essentially nonsensical art to respond as a way of pitying society and its newfound obsession with war. An early example of artwork from the Dada movement was by one of the defining artists of the movement – Rectangles Arranged According to the Laws of Chance, a paper collage made in 1916 by Jean (Hans) Arp. Dada artists like Arp thought that pure chance itself was an unseen force, and played on the idea on the nonsense that could happen because of this chance. The nonsense and absurdity that chance could create was then comparable to the Dada artist’s views on war. The lack of control that came with the technique differed from tradition of the artist making all the decisions, yet again proving its obscurity. This specific collage of
Dada was an artistic and literary movement, this arose as a reaction to World War one. Many citizens believed that Dada was actually the cause of World War one, this movement likes to take the form of ‘anti-art’. Therefore, how you can claim everything is art but in reality, nothing is art. For example, take the painting ‘Fountain’ by a Dadaist painter Marcel Duchamp it is a readymade painting of an unused urinal. Which is basically implying that he rejected art and thought that we should focus on the artist 's idea more rather than it being crafted. Therefore, using a urinal and labelling it as ‘art’, get’s Duchamp’s point across that a work of art should be the artists idea instead of it being crafted. When looking at Dadaism by Tristan Tzara, there were some interesting quotes. For example, “Like everything in life, Dada is useless. Dada is without pretension, as life should be.” (Tzara, 1918). This quote intrigues me, as Tzara is stating that all art is useless and that Dada is pretension and that is how life should be. This can be used as an example of how Dadaism was inspired by
The music of John Cage is highly criticized, yet highly revered within the same societal realm. The question that has yet to be answered, even after fifty plus years, is John Cages music really “music” or is it just noise? The dictionary definition of music is the following: “vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion.” My personal version of the definition of music is a variant of the definition listed above. I believe that music is the combination of vocal, instrumental sounds, or silence (or all the above) produced in a way to express a feeling or emotion. Based on my own personal definition of music, I do consider John Cages pieces to be music.
Like Andrew Kania, I also believe that 4’33” is a piece of art but not music. This is because Cage wanted us to recognize the ambient sounds in the environment but the sounds were not organized as music is and did not involve a musical feature as told by Kania. Art and music are similar but two different ways of expression. Art is a broader concept that is able to fit in many different ideas of definition, however music is not as broad because it limits itself to one type of art form which is sound. 4’33” has the skeleton of a musical piece but the body of an art piece, it is composed mainly to present an idea through its existence rather than reach out to the audience and influence/affect them like most music does. How 4’33” compares to traditional musical performances has already been discussed, however it also compares to traditional art pieces. Yet, art is such a broad category that can be reduced to many definitions and to say one thing is art while another, it is essential to define it. This raises the
Each artist of the Dada era had a new way of expressing Freud?s ideas. They also felt that art was a powerful means of self-revelation, and that the images came from ones subconscious mind had a truth of its own. As Marcel Duchamp mocked the Mona Lisa by drawing a Padilla 3 mustache on her, stated that the painting was a lewd message set by the conventional way of thinking. Since the Dada artist did not believe in western culture this made sense, because people only want believe what is told to them, instead of what is true. The Dada movement marked a meeting of people to have ?noise concerts? where they recited poems in a free association verse. In these poetry readings the artist perceived how they felt about the world. As World War I began the Dadaist perceived it as a world gone mad. Not only did they express their work in unconventional ways; they used the subconscious as a way of making their views true. Although the Dada era was short lived it influenced and questioned the traditional concepts of the western world. These techniques set an agenda for a new trial by error art form of this same era. The spirit of Freud in the Dadaist era never really died, it is shown today as ?Pop art? or sometimes known as neo-Dada art forms. Also this revolution of thinking and art paved the way for the Surrealist movement. The Surrealist movement of the 1920?s through 1930?s captivated the world with its bizarre way of thinking. Just as the Dadaist used
Not only anti-war and anti-art, Dada mirrored society in a more comprehensive level than just political extent but entailing cultural perspective (Harrison & Wood, 2003). Dada is considered as irrationalism to reject the traditional Bourgeois rationalism (Harrison & Wood, 2003). Hopkins, in his book “Dada and surrealism”, explained this characteristic in a more detail level: Dada threw doubt on how the conservative middle-class art was created and the constructive purposes it guaranteed, the elegant, rational ideas of church and flag overwhelmed the arts while countless human being out there were suffering from loss and horrified deaths (Hopkins, 2006). Dadaism assumed that bourgeois were the one contributed to the miserable so that their perspective had to