Dada

Dada Artwork by John Heartfield, titled
"A Berlin Saying",
source: http://www.johnheartfield.com

An art phenomenon that took place between the time of 1916-1924 in Zurich, Switzerland. According to (thearthistory.org) the term Dada translates to the general meaning of 
ANTI-ART, not in the sense of not liking art or having nothing to do with it but instead to not agree on the terms of which "art" is classified under. They believed that War was wrong and the destruction and ideas of the past which had fueled the world war 1 at the time had to be changed and war was not the answer neither was it an acceptable solution to end problems.
Although it seemed to be a movement that had no influence from anything at all it had ties to movements such as:

-Surrealism-Futurism-Expressionism-Constructivism

The word DADA which already stands out from previous art movements that came before leaves no room for imagination or clues as to what it is about, what its affiliated to or what its aims were.

Already seeing a way of it not wanting to be regarded as or seen as an art movement its easy to see why it was confusing to read/understand or make out. For example we all know that:

Futurism (had something to do with the future), Impressionism (had something to do with feelings and emotions) and Cubism (had something to do with geometric shapes) to name a few. Dada actually meant the term "hobby horse" which is rumoured to have been made when a collection of artists randomly threw a knife into a dictionary and the word that intersected the knife was the word Dada (meaning hobby horse)

Examples of Dada movement artworks

Dada Artwork by Marcel Duchamp, titled "Fountain",
1917, source: pinmg.com

Dada Artwork by George Grosz, titled
"Whisky", 1918, source:pinmg.com

Pioneers of this movement believed in art having a purpose and idea behind the artwork was more important that the finished product, and not being an object that was planned or had masterpiece standard challenging what society viewed or had thought art was. A dada artist was set to challenge everything that was considered normal in society and place the engagement of the artist and his work and how it engages with the viewer. The movement spread as there was an establishment of a magazine that helped stretch out the message of the Dada-ists accompanied by art exibitions

It sort to be the first of its kind boasting to not care about what the finished product looked like but more of the meaning behind the construction or background of the piece. Founders of Dada included a journalist and writer named Tristain Tzara and Cabaret Voltaire a satirist( meaning a person who believed in humour, exaggeration and irony in their work) dictionary.cambridge.org, 2017). Artists worked with found objects, paint, photo montages and sculptors often incorporating objects into artworks done by other people or famous artists, challenging what was considered "art"

Contemporary Artpiece Analysis

Dada artwork SAMMY SLABBINCK

Going Nowhere, 2014, 

source:kidsofdada.com

In this piece by Sammy Slabbinck titled "going nowhere" in 2014 is clearly a Dada piece that uses a familiar process that was used in Dada artworks known as "photo montaging". This process is where an artist combines multiple artwoks and makes it into one piece. We see a picture of a woman who appears to be swallowing the road in which a car's windscreen is showing. 

A clever piece of work that uses the imagination of photography and the illusion made by the mountains fading out in the horizon. Sammy uses the conception of art and makes the use of clever photography ,placement and found objects combining them together into an artpiece.

Why it works: As an artpiece it normally would not have this sort of arrangement. It doesnt make sense to have these photos together but it does have a pleasing visual effect that is easy to understand.

Old Artpiece Analysis

Dada ARTWORK Penelope-Slinger , I
speak what I see, 1973,
source: kidsofdada.com

Penelope Slinger presents her dada representation in an artwork that is titled "I speak what I see" in 1973 with a series of mouths. We see an open mouth that opens into another mouth and then into teeth and goes on an on and on. This uses photo motanging aswell which is a series of separate images combined into one complete image. The title " I speak what I see" tells us that she is a straightforward and honest individual that does not hide her thoughts and emotions with no filter. 

Why it works: The clever use of the mouth being a vessel of speaking the truth without fear and obstruction with the use of mouths paints a picture of what the artist was trying to portray. usually with a title that has the word "see" we often think of eyes and the use of sight which doesn't make sense in a normal sense but as a DADA picture it makes sense that it does not make sense.

Sources Consulted

A Berlin Saying Artpiece
Found at: http://www.johnheartfield.com/John-Heartfield-Exhibition/john-heartfield-art on 16 April 2017

Dada Definition and timeline
Found at:http://www.theartstory.org/movement-dada.htm on 16 April 2017

Satirist Definition 
Found at http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/satiriston 16 April 2017

Fountain by Marcel Duchamp
Found at https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/a1/e8/8b/a1e88bc0e54c0ebf8888751b26284d38.jpg on 16 April 2017

Whisky by George Grosz 
Found at https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/31/1b/b9/311bb920aeafcf6ba2e0a6508fd7104a.jpg on 16 April 2017

Going Nowhere by Sammy Slabbinck
Found at https://www.kidsofdada.com/products/going-nowhere-2014 on 16 April 2017

I speak what I see by Penelope Slinger
Found at https://www.kidsofdada.com/products/i-speak-what-i-see on 16 April 2017