Surrealism And Dada And Surrealism

"I hope she 'll be a fool — that 's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool . . . You see, I think everything 's terrible anyhow . . . And I know. I 've been everywhere and seen everything and done everything." (The Great Gatsby, pg. 20) There was a loss of innocence, disillusionment and lack of faith in the American Dream. This became the movement known as Modernism. WWI was the first “total war” in which modern weapons spared no one. The casualties suffered by the participants in World War I dwarfed those of previous wars. The armed forces continued to use old tactics, but had modern weaponry that of which caused a major number of casualties. This war left American’s with a scar on their hearts, and in their minds. WWI changed the game completely, and after the massacres that occurred during the war, and the complete and utter destruction that was left behind, caused uproar in American values and principles. This was the start and basis for the Modernist movement.

Surrealism is a movement that built off of the burgeoning look into art, psychology, and the workings of the mind. Popularly associated with the works of Salvador Dali, Surrealist art takes imagery and ideology and creates correlation where there is none, creating new forms of art. In this essay I will look to explore the inception of the surrealist movement, including the Surrealist Manifesto, to stress the importance of these artists and their work in the 20th century and beyond. I also will look to films from our European Cinema course to express how films incorporate the influence of surrealism both intentionally and unintentionally.

“World War I was not inevitable, as many historians say. It could have been avoided, and it was a diplomatically botched negotiation,” once said Richard Holbrooke, an American diplomat. Many people worldwide agree with Mr. Holbrooke, believing WWI to be a waste of human lives. Known for its ridiculous start, fueled by the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, and its huge impact on numerous countries earned it the title of the Great War. Though many people considered it pointless and as a war with many negative repercussions, WWI did lead to some positive outcomes, such as its art. Not only were new movements created, but also new styles of existing forms of art resulted from the war. Because of the different ways that art developed both on and off of the battlefield during the Great War, WWI is one of the most influential wars on the development of art in the twentieth century.

World War I was a war that shocked the world and brought about new emotions that created a large wave of “-isms” as well as the “lost generation” of writers. Modern art was catalyzed by World War I and without a thorough study of the various forms of art that resulted from it, modern art and the tremendous effect that World War I had on the people of the world cannot be fully understood. This historical investigation will cover a few aspects of the art that resulted from World War I so that a general idea of the emotions shared by the people of the world can be known. A few paintings that represent specific movements will be studied to understand the artistic movement. A number of museum exhibitions will be studied along with government websites, databases, and museum websites, especially from the Museum of Modern Art.

After World War I ended in 1919, many artists began to turn to Abstract Expressionism, while others turned to the Surrealist aspect of art. Salvador Dali became the "high priest" of Surrealism and created the disturbing world where the intangible became tangible (Spielvogel). Giorgio de Chirico, an Italian painter was another artist who used Surrealism in his work. Man Ray, an American Surrealist, was experimenting with a different kind of Surrealism. Instead of a paintbrush she used an airbrush. Functionalism was used in architecture, meaning that these buildings were made with a specific purpose in mind. Dadaism also became prevalent. These artists tried to create expression by creating an anti-art (Spielvogel). Not only was art changing, but sports and music were experiencing a transition as well. Following World War I, sports became one of the most popular activities for fun. Baseball stadiums were enjoying record ticket sales and attendance while ticket prices doubled, tripled, or even quadrupled. The rise of tennis and golf also occurred during

The surrealist movement of the 1920s-1930s was largely based on the notion that excessive rational thought is a catalyst of conflict and war throughout the world. Salvador Dali’s The Persistence

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:

André Breton ran the Surrealist Movement with impressive discipline and rigidity, making an interesting contrast between what the Surrealists preached and the management style of its leader. An interesting story, for example, tells how Salvador Dalí, one of the most prominent members of the Surrealist movement, attended a New York costume party dressed up as Charles Lindbergh’s son, who had been recently kidnapped and murdered. New York’s society did not take the statement well and eventually made Dalí apologize for his behavior. Breton, however, almost dismissed him from Movement because he claimed that “no one should excuse himself for a Surrealist act[6].” This anecdote demonstrates the seriousness of Breton and his Movement towards its final objective: revolution and the slashing of society’s conventions in the interest of a subconscious reality.

Tremendous technological advance and tremendous slaughter leave an artistic waste land of atrocity, emasculation and pointing posters used to manipulate the public into recruiting men to join the military around the globe. Skilled illustrators in America, less inventive but artistic allegory’s in Canada and France and plain typography in Britain leave many artists busy with supporting the war effort. On the outskirts of war were a contingency of international peoples with little means and a negative view of European culture and war that chose to defect to Switzerland where they created the art movement known as Dada.

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

Surrealism is one of the recognizable art movements with influential impacts in contemporary art. Advocating an art of imagination, the artists explore the unconscious as a method to discover the possible vision. They focus on the power of endless imagination and trace back to the romantic emotions, explore anxieties and present the emotions visually. Besides, the Surrealistic artists believe everywhere, and daily life could be their inspiration. In the arts, the Surrealist ideas combine abstract imagination with new techniques to represent the unconscious. Surrealists devote to specializing in presenting a more profound reality revealed by the unconscious mind. The artists wish to create images that go beyond dreams to reach a more comprehensive

Surrealism stems directly from the effects of modern age warfare (Brahman, Kennan, & Alcaine, 2004). Europe was left devastated and disillusioned after years of fighting in World War I (Brahman, Kennan, & Alcaine, 2004) .The effects of the war were visible everywhere in Europe as populations became stagnant, economies plummeted, buildings remained in ruins and many survivors suffered from depression (Brahman, Kennan, & Alcaine, 2004).The general population had a feeling of utter destruction at the hands of man (Brahman, Kennan, & Alcaine, 2004). There was a great void left in European cities beautiful and true topple into an abyss of ridicule and shame (Brahman, Kennan, & Alcaine, 2004).

Due to the war, tensions were becoming more prominent and were leading up to a cultural scare. Davidism began in the 1920 and surrealism derives from it; the textbook describes this movement as being ” An artistic movement...that attacked all accepted standards of art and behavior and delighted in outrageous conduct.” Dadisms view of anti-art began after the end of World War I when humanity began to realize that they could exterminate whole nations therefore life was meaningless and art should be too. Surrealism emerged as a form of dadaism and was impacted tremendously by Freudian psychology about the id, ego, and superego; they painted epic worlds of wonderland-like scenes and images drawn on impossible landscapes.

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

Most of us connect surrealism with art and images from Dali and his generation. However, the artists of the surrealist movement regard their work as an expression of the original philosophical movement with the works being an artefact that philosophy. André Breton was clearly in his view that surrealism was above all, a revolutionary and radical philosophical movement, explaining that is not a matter of aesthetics, but rather a way of thinking, a point of view (Waldberg 1997; Pass 2011:29-30).