Dada. They brought to a sharp focus the dilemma in which making choices between so-called alternatives was a lost cause. Tristan Tzara ( of chess with Lenin fame ) saw opposites as essentially equivalent. Order=disroder. affirmation=negation.
The efforts to incite indignation swirled around Dada’s core belief of attention to negative values. A messianic adventure of discovering beauty and worth in what was commonly viewed and perceived as distasteful and without value. The pungent creations and activities, mostly with pernicious intent; raised a mirror in which the absurdities of the social world were reflected.
The Art Critic 1919-20 by Raoul Hausmann 1886-1971
By ridicule and inversion, dada demonstrated that the true determinants of many if not most ritualized public acts and professed social goals were fortuitous or base. In a sense the dadaists were grafting an art form onto Veblen’s thesis of useless activities occupying people’s time. In effect, they were more pointed and clever versions of memes.
Hannah Hoch- she was “dada’s girl”
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