Dada Art
In the world of art, one category branches out from the rest. “Dada” a new breed of art, combined surrealism and exploring new ideas. One of Dada’s most risky artists was Marcel Duchamp. His most famous and one of his more “childish” pieces was one entitled, “Fountain”. The sculpture, if that’s what you like to call it, consists of a single urinal, with the name “R. Mutt” painted on the side. The whole piece looked like it took Duchamp about twenty minutes to make. Still, this simple piece suprises me to think that such a thing could be called art, or better yet, be put on display in an actual art museum. At first the piece wasn’t allowed to be exhibited, because the Society of Independent Art rejected it. But of course, it found itself a home when people all of a sudden had an interest in “anti-art” which was the whole point of this piece. Yes, the whole point of “Fountain” was to piss off the art world and then see if it could become an excepted piece of art. And yes, Duchamp’s silly dream came true, for his sculpture became famous and he became rich. But all my personal feelings don’t agree with other people’s feelings.
When people look at the “Fountain” they say “is this really art?”, some people think that he is more influential than Picasso and Matisse. In BBC news the art expert Simon Wilson said, “The choice of Duchamps’ Fountain as the most influential work of modern art ahead of works by Picasso and Matisse comes as a bit of shock.” So it...
Rathnasambhava, the Transcendent Buddha of the South and Madonna Enthroned are very similar images that were produced by very different cultures. Both images were produced during the 13th Century. The image of Rathnasambhava, the Transcendent Buddha of the South was produced in Tibet during an interesting period of the country’s religious history. The branch of Tibetan Buddhism is led by a religious and sometimes political leader called the Dalai Lama. It was during the 13th Century during the reign of Kublai Khan, around the time of the production of this painting, that Tibet experienced the first incarnation of the Dalai Lama. One has to wonder if this painting is somehow related to that occurrence. According to one source, the reincarnation system for the Living Buddhas is the main point distinguishing Tibetan Buddhism from other forms of Buddhism.
Ultimately, it can be seen that all artists are influenced or incorporate issues and events of their time in their works, whether this is from the desire to portray Greek perfection to that of religious beliefs and the creation of the camera. To become renowned like Polykleitos, Michelangelo and Pablo Picasso, this statement must be followed.
Duchamp’s piece was not controversial because of the simplistic nature of the piece, nor the oddity of it- it was controversial because he had not made it himself. People were very opposed to this idea because they believed that art was something made and not found. Duchamp’s “ready-made” art, which were always mass produced objects made by machines, was offensive to them and so they rejected it wholeheartedly. Unlike Fountain, Kandinski’s Little Pleasures was not rejected because of the nature of its ’creation’, it was rejected because people had never before seen art with such a lack of recognizable forms. Before Kandinski, art had always had representations of things from life, and Little Pleasures seemed almost completely arbitrary to them with no connections to the world they lived in. As such, both pieces were, at first, denied the title of “art” because society was unable to break from tradition and admire something
Pablo Picasso is one of the most famous and well-documented artists of the twentieth century. Picasso, unlike most painters, is even more special because he did not confine himself to canvas, but also produced sculpture, poetry, and ceramics in profusion. Although much is known about this genius, there is still a lust after more knowledge concerning Picasso, his life and the creative forces that motivated him. This information can be obtained only through a careful study of the events that played out during his lifetime and the ways in which they manifested themselves in his creations (Penrose).
Dadaism is a European artistic movement that went from 1916-1923. It is a movement in art, literature, music, and film, repudiating and mocking artistic and social conventions and emphasizing the illogical and absurd. This movement flouted conventional artistic and cultural values by producing works of art that were marked by nonsense, travesty, and incongruity. The word dada has many meaning in different languages so it is impossible to know which language the art movement name was based from. The dada artist’s outrage was real and it was a genuine reaction to the horrors of World War 1 and the nationalism, and rationalism, which many thought had brought war about. None of the Dada art that survives can be called aesthetically pleasing in
Crooked Beak of Heaven Mask is a big bird-figure mask from late nineteenth century made by Kwakwaka’wakw tribe. Black is a broad color over the entire mask. Red and white are used partially around its eyes, mouth, nose, and beak. Its beak and mouth are made to be opened, and this leads us to the important fact in both formal analysis and historical or cultural understanding: Transformation theme. Keeping that in mind, I would like to state formal analysis that I concluded from the artwork itself without connecting to cultural background. Then I would go further analysis relating artistic features to social, historical, and cultural background and figure out what this art meant to those people.
Though most works of art have some underlying, deeper meaning attached to them, our first impression of their significance comes through our initial visual interpretation. When we first view a painting or a statue or other piece of art, we notice first the visual details – its size, its medium, its color, and its condition, for example – before we begin to ponder its greater significance. Indeed, these visual clues are just as important as any other interpretation or meaning of a work, for they allow us to understand just what that deeper meaning is. The expression on a statue’s face tells us the emotion and message that the artist is trying to convey. Its color, too, can provide clues: darker or lighter colors can play a role in how we judge a piece of art. The type of lines used in a piece can send different messages. A sculpture, for example, may have been carved with hard, rough lines or it may have been carved with smoother, more flowing lines that portray a kind of gentleness.
Many associate the Berlin Dada movement with Raoul Hausmann, Johannes Baader, Hans Richter, George Grosz, John Heartfield and Weiland Herzfelde, and very few associate the art movement with Hannah Hoch. Although Hoch was overshadowed by her male contemporaries, she did not hesitate from being an active member of the Berlin Dada creating timeless and critical artworks. She is best known for being a pioneer in photomontage, a technique that was instrumental not just for Hoch, but for many Berlin Dadaists. Her most well-known photomontages are satirical and political commentaries on Weimar’s redefinition of the social roles of women, also known as the concept of the “new woman”. If during her early years she would create artworks that attempted to portray the concept of the “new woman”, in her later years she began creating artworks that responded to this new Weimarian
Modern art serves to immerse us more thoroughly in a scene by touching on more than just our sight. Artists such as Grosz, and Duchamp try to get us to feel instead of just see. It seems that this concept has come about largely as a way to regain identity after shedding the concepts of the Enlightenment. “Philosophers, writers, and artists expressed disillusionment with the rational-humanist tradition of the Enlightenment. They no longer shared the Enlightenment's confidence in either reason's capabilities or human goodness...” (Perry, pg. 457) It is interesting to follow art through history and see how the general mood of society changed with various aspects of history, and how events have a strong connection to the art of the corresponding time.
It’s interesting to note what happened to the art world after Duchamp revolutionized art into meaninglessness. Artists seem to be exempt from the moral laws that are binding to ordinary people. Everything is O.K. under art’s magic umbrella: rotting corpses with snails crawling over them, kicking little girls in the head, rape and murder recreations, women defecating. Where does it stop? What is art and what is porn? What is art and what is disgusting? Where is the line? There isn’t one anymore. The effect of Duchamp’s pranks was to point out that anything could be art. All it took was getting people to agree to call something art.
They ridded the demands of the art community by not requiring great technical skill for something to be beautiful, and because of the lack of talent and thought that went into the art of their time period, there is only some pieces that I could consider true art. Traditions and encounters even stated that, ““Although the origin of the name Dada is unclear, it is believed to be a deliberately nonsensical word.” This quote shows that the artists didn’t want their work to fit into a previous category, and were often trying to prove that art can arise from anything. Dada pieces were unlike any art made, because they rejected using the precise technique and detail in their art, but what made this movement so unique was that it, “declared an all-out assault on the unquestioning conformity of culture and thought (T&E).” The idea of changing politics and long held views by art and not words was a drastic change for the art
...essive aspects that were quite advanced, the subject matter of his art was serious and dark. For his brilliance outshined all critisms, this made his art some of the most recognizable contributions.
One of the most unique figures in the continuum of the art world, Marcel Duchamp changed the way we look at and produce art today. Marcel Duchamp was by far, one of the most controversial figures in art. Two of the most well known and talked about pieces by him are The Fountain and The Bride Stripped Bare by her Bachelors, Even . Duchamp created many other pieces that caught the attention of critics, other artists, and the population in a negative way; however, these two pieces alone, brought about the greatest amount of controversy.
When visiting an art museum, there could be many thoughts that can run through someone’s mind. One can contemplate the tale that the artist is trying to convey while others can discuss the impact the piece has in term of aesthetics. And people continues to walk around and observing different piece, a thought occurs and questions your logic and reasoning. Why are any of these pieces considered as art? This is not a questioning of the quality of the piece, the mere presence at the measure demonstrates that it is certainly fine art. The question is why is it general called art? Looking past the creative imagery and aesthetic themes, the piece is just ink on paper or shaped clay or any variation on a thing. So is piece of art just a mere thing? As written in the Origin of the Work of Art, Martin Heidegger would state that it’s not a simply put. Some of the subjects that Heidegger discusses range from the origin of the essential of art to the interpretation of things.
... These artists or this particular art movement were significant to art history not just because they created a new form of art work, but because not only is it an exceptional form of art, but it’s unusual. Not really unusual but different, it’s different because of how short the art movement was. It was short but it has been long lived by many people and young artists today. In the end, this art movement was not only great, but worth it.