Dada And Futurism

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.

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:

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

Marcel Duchamp was one of the sole creators of this divide in art. Fountain is a piece of art that challenged one’s mind to make one ponder on what art really was. Society and the world were still very much stuck in the old history and paintings of grandeur, and Marcel had his intentions set on changing the description of art that people have oh so precariously followed for centuries. Before Marcel Duchamp even existed on this planet, the term art has been taken for granted for thousands of years, because nobody had ever really questioned art until Duchamp produced his anti-art. Ukrainian businessman Victor Pinchuk says, “What is extraordinary about contemporary art is the energy - it has our energy. New energy. Pieces hundreds of years old are beautiful from an aesthetic point of view, but without our modern energy.” Art mostly comes from within the

When you hear the word urinal what comes to mind? A dirty, smelly men’s bathroom with shiny porcelain contraption on the wall? What if I told you a urinal was art, and a replica is on display at The Philadelphia Museum of Art(). You see, Marcel Duchamp used a urinal to create his artwork "Fountain", which is simply a urinal with the words "R. Mutt 1917" inscribed on it in. Duchamp was part of a movement called Dada which questioned all the contemporary structures and rules of art (). What is art and how is Duchamp's "Fountain" any less art than da Vinci's "Mona Lisa"? To appreciate art, it is important to explain concepts of artistic form, content and participation.

Marcel Duchamp was a phenomenal artist, who gave Art an altered name. He shaped movements such as, Conceptional Art, Dadaism, Surrealism, Pop Art, Installation Art, and created Readymades. Duchamp changed many views on what some people thought was nothing into something. For example, one of Duchamp’s greatest pieces of art is the “Fountain”. The “Fountain” is a urinal, which is most often seen as something functional in its natural environment; yet when Marcel Duchamp placed a urinal in an art exhibition in 1913 and called it Fountain, it was transformed into sculpture. Marcel Duchamp himself described the conventions by which we measure art today, saying, "It is we who have given the name "art" to religious things; the

Marcel Duchamp was an innovative groundbreaking artist who during his lifetime continually pushed the boundaries of the current art scene. Due to his pioneering in art, he had a definitive influence upon artistic styles to come. Duchamp is typically grouped in to the Dadaist or Surrealist movements, however his involvement in the art world is worth more than just being placed into a category. In particular, his work “The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even” or “The Large Glass” shows just how much he can test the limits of art during his time.

Many consider his activity as occupying a similar thematic vein to the work of futurologist, alike Alvin Toffler, or situationists, however its stylistic approach veers in a distinct direction. His and ON’s approach trace the lineage of the genuine minimal artist.

Marcel Duchamp used his work to convey the idea that art is not in the object itself but rather in the context we put it in. His artwork “The Fountain” was a urinal bought from a plumbing supply house, signed, and put in display. Although the piece of art is just one object, I think “The Fountain” is an artwork of ideas. By placing an ordinary, unexpressive object in the art context,

An Italian avant-garde art movement that took speed, technology and modernity as its inspiration, is where new ideas were introduced to society. Futurism portrayed the dynamic character of 20th century life, glorified war and the machine age, and favored the growth of Fascism. Created at the turn of the twentieth century, the Futurist Manifesto stands out as the announcer of the new artistic movement, but its significance is much broader than the field of visual culture. It is conceived by Marinetti as a new force of Italian cultural revival, the one that is tired of stale and unproductive adherence to the past, and is instead urging for the creation of modern Italy. This new society whose principles should be based on the idea of progress,

Marcel Duchamp’s concept of the objet trouvé or ready-made as subject matter and material for his work inspired the use of popular imagery in Pop art. The use of trivial imagery in his work brought art into the every day world and made the every day world into art. In his book Pop Art, Tilman Osterwold declares ‘Dada combined advertising, images and texts, slogans, revolutionary films, assemblages, theatre and performances’ in its art. It was this idea of reality dubbed as art that later inspired Andy Warhol in his Campbell’s Soup

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

Futurism was an art movement originated in Italy in the early 20th century. It was largely an Italian phenomenon, though there were parallel movements in Russia, England and elsewhere.

Postmodernism, the current art movement, seems to allude comprehensive understanding. Most intellectuals understand what dictates and decides a postmodern piece, but are incapable of constructing a precise criteria for determining a postmodern piece due to the broad perception of the idea. The book Interviews with Hideous Men written by David Foster Wallace and the Japanese Animation Space Dandy are both examples of what might be considered an example of a postmodern piece in their respective fields. Although, the way in which both embody these ideals in appropriation, the focus on mundane subject matter, and the presence of artist intention in postmodern works are on opposite sides of the movement.

The early Twentieth Century faced a series of movements that made an impact during that period. Two of these major movements are Cubism and Futurism, which contrast in their origins, philosophies, and method of creating art, their distinguishing characteristics, and method of relating the subject and viewer in time and space, as well as the artists involved and their unique artworks. By comparing both Movements, I will be able to distinguish the difference as well as the similarities between these movements and the impact they have in modern art.