| DADA |
| In the second and third decades
of the twentieth century, a new kind of artistic movement swept Europe and
America. Its very name, "Dada"--two identical syllables without the obligatory "-ism"--distinguished it from the long line of avant-gardes. Its proponents came from all parts of Europe and the United States. At that time their native countries were battling one another in the deadliest war ever known. They did not restrict themselves to being painters. They were writers, dancers and musicians. Most of them were involved in several art forms. They broke down the boundaries that kept the arts distinct from one another. Indeed, the Dadaists were not content to make art. They wanted to affect all aspects of Western civilization. And take part in the revolutionary changes. The inevitable result of the chaos of the First World War. They were not interested in writing books and painting pictures which a public would admire in an uninvolved manner. They aimed to provoke the public into reacting to their activities: To the Dadaists, a violently negative reaction was better that a passive acceptance. The Dada movement was perhaps the most decisive single influence on the development of twentieth-century art. Its innovations are so pervasive as to be virtually taken for granted today. Because of its importance for both artistic and social history, Dada has become the subject of intense scholarly interest. |