DADA ART

Dada Art was a movement formed during the First World War in Zurich as a negative reaction to modern Europe society and the horrors of the war (Tate, n.d). I felt it complimented with the non-conformist side to my work completely, joining the dots between the arts and fashion.

Dada art was founded by writer Hugo Ball, in his satirical night club, Cabaret Voltaire, which was sought as refuge and awakened the desire to question the present with new and surprising forms of artistic performance (The Official Zurich City Guide, n.d). This reminded me of the 80’s club scene and how I have interpreted this into The Underground. An array of talents from art, poetry and performance gathered here to vent their anti-war and antibourgeois opinions collectively, just as the basements did for the Punks and New Romantics, and how I intend to create Le Sous Sol for Generation Alpha.

Dada artists thrust mild obscenities, scatological humour, and visual puns (Essak, 2019) into an early form of shock art which focused on a surrealistic expressionism and a whimsical nature- an element which defied the traditional values of the time. Through assemblage, collage and photomontage, Dada rejected cultural authority and revulsed the public. With my campaign solely comprising of Generation Alpha and their frustration with political and societal affairs, I felt it reciprocated this era considerably. There is an uncanny similarity between my work and Dada Art, and I would like to take elements from this movement forwards and collaborate the arts and fashion together. Since Generation Alpha appreciate innovativeness and emotional connection, I believe they will align with this narrative, its strong rejection and voice for rebellion positively.

Hannah Hoch

Whilst observing various compositions of Dada Art, I discerned a great resemblance between female Dadaist, Hannah Höch, and my visual identity.

Höch offered significant polemical ideas about gender, politics, and creativity during a tumultuous era in Western history (Cohen, 2019), however she wasn’t taken seriously due to being female. Personally, I think this accentuated her anger and provoked her to engage a greater frenetic energy into her work, as it has a noticeable feminist and queer influence amongst the chaos.

I admire Höch for being the only female Dadaist and representing the ‘New Woman’ – someone who confronted discriminative and political issues and used her talent to discover a radical freedom and expression. Her work explodes gender norms through deconstructing female and male body parts and intertwining them. I will be taking this factor into my imagery as both Charles Jeffrey and John Galliano inhabit a community which flouts gender traditions and pushes the boundaries of society’s expectations and have a chaotic essence to their collections.