DADA

Lecture last week was over DADA, a movement in art in which I truly am a fan.  Dada changed the world, it is what made art what it is today.  This is the movement which made people start to appreciate that arts place in the world as more than just a pretty picture and understand that it is and should be at the forefront of the world’s most important issues.  Dada changed everything, personally I believe that the praise so often given to the impressionist, cubist etc would be far more deservingly given to the dadist. The other movements are always given credit for asking “what is art” but what did they do really?  The movements before Dada and many after focuses on style and that is the bottom line.  Dada changed that, Dada focused on ideas.  They truly asked what art is, these are the people who created new types of art not just style in which to create it.  Collage, abstract typography, assemblage and video art just to name a few.  This is the forgotten movement and this is more than just a shame.  The reason it is so little known is due to how wide spread it is.  It is the only movement of the early 20^th century which truly continued till today. You cannot read a paper, a billboard or sign without seeing it.  You cannot watch a movie without it being referenced, or go to an art class without aspects of Dada being taught and generally unacknowledged.  Dada is the reason art is all around us, the reason we speak and joke and mock and appreciate art and culture the way we do.  And it all started by some, mostly forgotten, definitely underappreciated German expatriates in Sweden during WWI.