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Dadaism

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Submitted By Sallyae7854
Words 838
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Sally Arias
English 150
Professor Zacharias
September 23, 2010
An Examination of the Philosophy of Dadaism and It’s Existential Roots
Dadaism is an artistic movement that prospered from Europe around the 20th century. Many believe that this form of art is a representation of the “nihilistic protest against all aspects of Western Culture mainly due to a direct result of revulsion and rebellion against the horrors of war” (Shemool). However, what these artists really wanted was to open the minds of society to a new world of illogicality and endless possibilities without the limitations of moral and religious belief. The purpose of this artistic movement is to challenge the conventional principles of morality and establishment of laws by portraying its unique incongruous form of art. Its bizarre and inimitable ways depict some of the basic principles of existentialism, which is “a modern philosophical movement that stressed the importance of personal experience as an individual who are seen as a free agent in a deterministic and seemingly meaningless universe” (Collins English Dictionary).
This concept aroused controversy in society since such eruptions of “absurd” terminology were never before seen or accepted. Although some of the works of Dadaism meddled with the tolerance of human society, its true intentions were to re-establish the values of romantic practices and indispensable morality of humanity when uncorrupted by societies’ taboo beliefs.
Many of the people during the 20th century were not ready for the absurd world of free expression, and more so considering this artistic movement derived from the disagreement in beliefs over World War l. Dadaism not only freely expressed its anti-war beliefs, but it also “forced the observer to question accepted realities and acknowledge the role of chance and imagination”, causing a shift in the normal way of thinking to a more abstract way of processing ideas (Shemool). Like existentialism, Dadaism believed in coming out of these logical and routine like ways of thinking, to becoming more open to analyze a different form of philosophy. It was considered this “reflection of negativism” and “seemed inherent in the Dadaist philosophy of absurdity” (Kreuter 41). These two philosophical terms correlate in that they both strongly believe in the rejection of values in attempt to “enlighten” society to these meaningless and questionable roles of life. For the first time people were coming out of this utopian mind set and expressing their own personal thoughts and beliefs of what was happening in our society.
One prevalent and very well known artists of this time period is Gala-Salvador-Dali, a Spanish surrealist painter. Dali’s art is articulated through a philosophical movement that expresses its art through element of surprise and distortion. The basis of Dada is nonsense, and Dali’s ability to create such art was effortless. Although this artist did seem to prosper in every aspect of Dadaism he is also recognized for his ostentatious behavior. Many grew to believe that Dali’s sometimes-peculiar ways drew more attention than his actual work did. Gala-Salvador-Dali showed his depiction of art by undoubtedly emphasizing the rare and distinctive features and colors, thus portraying a very strong message of his personal beliefs. Dali’s obscure behavior and “intolerable” form of art made perfect justification for the rejection of this form of art. However, Official Paranoiac Portrait of Pablo Picasso is one of Dali’s many art works that portray the extensive constructive characteristics of Dadaism. Dalli once said that, “ ‘[he is] totally different… since he was not interested in beauty, but in ugliness and I, more and more, in beauty; but ugly beauty and beautiful beauty, in extreme cases of geniuses like Picasso and me, can be of an angelic type’ ” (Descharnes 110). Dali clearly explains the different forms of Dada art, and how it could also be expressed in an “angelic form”. Through this quote, one is able to comprehend the two distinctive forms of art, but more importantly conclude that although these two are different forms of art, they both portray Dada philosophy that does not necessarily contain a negative connotation, but simply a different form of expression of beauty.
Dadaism is the negation of everything that is normal and essential in life. It challenges the basic principles of ordinary and typical existence that much of society was unwilling to accept during the time period. Although this bizarre form of art had trouble being accepted in the early 20th century it rose above and is now viewed by society as a very unique and influential movement.

Works Cited
“Art History: Dadaism: (1916-1924)”. http://wwar.com/masters/movements/dadaism.html. 05Feb2006. Online. Internet. 13Apr.2009 Descharnes, Dali. Dali. New York: Hary n Abrams, 1976, 110.
"existentialism." Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. HarperCollins Publishers. 22 Sep. 2010. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/existentialism>.
Kreuter, Anton Eric. Victim Vulnerability: An Existential-Humanistic

Interpretation of a Single Case StudyEdition. Nova Publishers, 2006, 39-43. Sheool, Allon. “Information on Dadism”. http://www.geocities.com/allon_art/dada.html. 2001. Online. Internet.13Apr.2009

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