Dada in El Paso Catalog

Au g ust Dec emb er

–

HA NN AH HÖCH, AND WH EN YOU THINK THE MOON IS SE

tion and a t n e m e frag mong th a , s i s i e of r r the guis ime of c e t d a n t u a t h n g ar fou as bor ar I—a w Dada w W f ld r o W by Ferdinand o z d n e s ra F u e a k c u s d chao r of Arch r the murde e ft a f e ri g l lues a nation accepted social va d ar eg sr di to ed seem Austria. The war utilized new, violent ways as well as the value of human life. It aided by the latest in technological equipment to efficiently kill the enemy. Dada was a movement against everything chaotic and destructive, de spite its own art ta king on the appear of being cha ance otic and de structive. D ada and its be clearer roots tend to than the m eaning of the word movemen “dada” its t stepped elf. The away from Many con the elite a rt of the b sidered it ourgeois. simply to in contr be a child ast to th is h protest e war-lo place a to the wa ving Ita t abou r, l i a n t F the sa uturist art. T me tim movem his wa ent tak e. Dad s perh Dada ing a acqu aps em ists u i r e d p t h h asized sed t e labe a co l of an o cre by the ncep tia a t e l t t e t rnativ heir asse still e a used m techn rt, su iques ch as use blage, in c r o p ead of c n h t o emp tomo y-m had hanc orar ntag ade e. I y the e— s Grap , pe t is mo r h f o i t c h rma st p Desi nce, rofo is latte gn— p r und oetr tech y, an effe niqu d th ct o e, w e nD hich ada m ’s st ay h yle. ave

TTING detail, 19 21.

Front Page and Back End Papers: KURT SCHWITTERS, Die heilige Sattlermape (The Holy Saddler’s Portfolio), 1922.

THE CO VER OF TH E JOURNA L DA DA

n what y its style o nt, d to portra the moveme Dada wante e means of nsidered th could be co

ILL US TR ATION ON

, NO. 3, 1918.

j o u r n a l s.

MA RCEL JA NCO,

layouts, ered and baffled created disord ce an ch of t emen ho became or Dada, the el udes of those w tit at e th ed or art that mirr it literature, and any aberrations War I and the m ld or W of s er disast s involved in the y. The Dadaist entieth centur tw rly ea e th in the era of unication left in psyches t of new comm en pm lo ve de l ca pid technologi dio criticized the ra ents such as ra re—developm ltu cu ne hi ac ell as the m d the many mediums as w ation press, an tr us ill oot ph e, the assembly lin k broadcasting, a global networ Dada became I. ar W ld or W ns used in art military weapo ls, poetry and ifestos, journa an m re he w ts l artis of internationa adaist network. n within the D io at ic un m m provided co reproductions the itzerland where tral Zurich, Sw eu n to s ot ro s Dada’ One may trace ould protest a group that w rm fo to d de ci Hugo Ball de German artist ey were living. orld in which th w e th of n io at anifest d the barbaric m land, organize fled to Switzer so al ho w , ts ropean artis any other Several other Eu ned by Ball. M ow as w at th ltaire the Cabaret Vo a, themselves at l North Americ time to neutra e th at pe ro war-torn Eu a took place artists also fled ons where Dad gi re n ai m e Th ty. lly New York Ci Cologne. more specifica Hannover, and n, rli Be , ris Pa , ew York City were Zurich, N t could its style on wha ted to portray an w a ad D at sense th uts of Thus, it makes urnals. The layo e movement, jo th of ns ea m e th be considered n on the C over tr o’s Illus atio nc Ja l ce ar M nals such as many early jour extent, a global became, to an , 18 19 om fr , rn a D , No.3 ell of t he Jou l ada and layout as w e of typography us e tiv va no in to their order to sensation due in a red color in ed us pe ty e th presence of me known as for the strong ovement beca m e th ch hi w r est fo feeling of prot showcase the es the absolute ver that abolish co e th if as t d. It is almos and condemne d catastrophe. ishing elitism an ol ab ly nt re ur is conc rules of design

Meanwhile

, in Berlin,

by using p

e fragmen

the artist G

eorge Grosz

hotomonta

tation of E

ges that cr

urope and

e

created pie

GEORGE GROS

satire of th

ces that w

the popula

ere a

rity of pho

tography

parts in pla

where a m

an’s face is t b elong as w the use of ell as buttons th person’s fa at seem to ce. The use h a v e b ecome part of photom of this ontage, as of the item well as the s in this pic sy mbolism o torial colla f some ge, attemp suffered b t to epitom y many so ize the mu ldiers due tilations to the new soldiers to military we the use of a p o n s which led what were these , at that tim Yet, it is th e, recently is visual te invented p chnique th rosthetics. at allowed with more artists to e than just th xp re ss their opinio e use of co ns rrectly ren dered ima g es and typ Nonethele e. ss, Kurt Sch witters, an artist in Ha collage tha nnover, use t made use d another kind of of type an d images.

In his piece (The Ho S d Die heil ige ly a d ler’s Po rtf S attler m a p olio) from e 1922, Schw for the vie wer’s eyes itters elim inates spa to rest wit ce h randomly newspape chosen wo rs arrange rds and im d without ages from a defined m with the n eaning, an on-art. The d w h ich made a work chall rt enges the needs to b notions of e expressiv a rt as some e and mea thing that ningful. In collaborati Schwitters on with El created a co Lissitzky, ver for the journal M Schwitters z th er at was part created as of the mov a response ement to being re jected by th e D a d a ists.

In the cove r of Mer z, no. 8 – 9 : N a s ci from 192 composed 4, El Lissitz a layout th ky and Sch at is simila witters r to th e makes sen Bauhaus in se since th it s st y listic appro e Bauhaus ach, which philosophy was then a Regardless contempo of that, in rary of Dad a cover for a. a program of 1923 call M a tinees) E ed Mer z-M in l Lissitzky at éen (M combined clean Bauh er z Dada layo aus design ut, creatin with the u g somethin sually chao g more org tic of typogra anized and phy as a st le g ib le. El Lissitz rong elem ky’s use ent in the the need fo layout tak es over the r illustratio ns obsolete message m within the aking same time design. Me , but in Pari anwhile, a s, artist Fra ro und the ncis Picabia cover for th took a sim ilar approa e journal D ch with the a da , No.7, where the illustra around the tion of the capacity o cover revo f text as a design ele lves ment that overpowers the page. mechanica

they do no

h af t (A Vict im of So ciet y; late r titl ed Re member Un

EL LISSITZK

Y AND KUR T

SCH W IT TERS

, MER Z, NO.

8 – 9 : N ASCI

cl e August , the Unh ap

, 1924 .

py In ven to r) , 1919.

FR ANCIS PI

ll sc

l parts and

ces where

r der Ge se

of human

Z, Ein Op fe

ated mutila E in Opfer d ted charact ers like in h er Gese llsch a ft is piece (A Vic tim o f Uncle Aug ie ty; la er it S o c us t, the U nh ap t t le d Re mem p y In ve nto ber r), from 19 composed 19

George Groz cre ated pie of Euro ces that pe and were a s the pop atire of ularity the frag of phot mentatio ograph n y by us ing

photom

CA BI A, D AD

A, NO.7, 1920

.

onta ge

that cre ated mu tilated

charact

s

ers.

own fo

ed on its back

ain urinal turn y-made porcel

consisted of n

as a submissio

RC EL

DU

CH AM

P,

FO

UN

TA

IN

.

17

he Kit chen ch as Cu t w ith t

h’s work su Images in Höc

an om 1919– h in Germ y fr Ep y l oc Be rl ee m ar B ntal. gh the L ast W ei

1920 seem to

ed arbitrarily have been plac

g was accide

as if the placin

aist belief es from the Dad

of letting go of

g a

T WITH THE KITC

Knife Throu

,1 9

aphy with typogr

MA

HA NN AH HÖCH, CU

of an assisted read ewed in terms e is mostly revi ec pi is Th . ow rde sh for an avant-ga un ta in as well as rary artists. , Fo po em nt co on impact the fine art and its — demonstrate ade from 1913 m yad re r he anot Bicy cle W heel — merged with where anti-art ar W at re G e phere of th delirious atmos and layout. ith typography w ay pl a g tin n crea Graphic Desig I the European oil of World War rm tu e th r te af Nonetheless, ternal elf due to an in etely altered its pl m co t en m govern nsion into a social te which parlayed n, tio ta en m ag fr h tists like Hanna pean culture. Ar ro Eu ed fin de that re al is socio-politic of capturing th Höch were able collage, which ugh the use of ro th n tio ta en fragm ontage and own as photom came to be kn s Dada. l part of Berlin’ was an essentia

sign creatin Graphic De erged with . . . a n t i-ar t m and layout.

un ta in of 1917, which

piece Fo r his infamous

play

t popu

One of the mos He is widely kn

cel Duchamp.

ement was Mar

e Dada mov lar figures of th

conscious

HEN KNIFE THRO

ss arriv he. In This randomne European psyc to parallel the ay w a as t tis ar control by the y, both from da Panor am a , Da D and Da e lik h öc H other works by 21, oon is Setting from 19

k the M

UGH THE LA ST WE

M A RC CH A M Y P, BIC CL E W

AN Y, 1919 –1921.

E L DU

Y EP OCH IN GERM IM AR BEER BELL

You T hin 1919, And W h en n by using ustrates tensio ill es ec pi r he tion in the fragmenta mediately s that were im and newspaper es in az ag m images from ns as a way h’s work functio öc H in ge ta on the m available. Yet, n while osphere in Berli e post-war atm th t uc tr ns co to visually re d absurd way. in a mocking an ns tio la re er w g po still attenuatin

HE E L , 1913.

Dada was

Pau a Funk , 1995 .

and defin ing move ment.

.

, 2003.

, Bring in ‘D

PA RK POST ER

defying

R, 820, 2009

, Bring in ‘D a Noise

ARE IN THE

dada was a

M ARK W EAVE

Paula Scher

la Scher, SH AK ESPE

a defying a nd definin g moveme modern art nt. It pave ists to inje d the way ct some pla for y into their traditional w o rk , while chall ideas that enging the confined a rtists to a st that interr y li stic and co upted crea nceptual p tivity at its rison core. Dada Graphic De ’s im p a ct sign can be on contem seen in the porary works of d Mark Wea esigners P ver who ha a ula Scher a ve used th nd e legacy of by creating D a d a to th layouts tha e ir a d v a ntage t are visua lly chaotic, these desi yet modern gners do n . Although ot stick to using the u of red, bla sual Dadais ck, and bro t color pale wn, Scher tte and Weave sense of D r g iv e the audien ada with co ce the lors such a s bright ye more to th llows and b e contemp lues that re orary era. late Both desig glossy look n e rs a ttempt to of other “i reflect the sms” whic h, to an ext Dada due ent, also d to their use erived from of readily a vailable ite Pop Art. Th m s a n d images, is stylistic such as clash of old and new is reflects th D ada in esse e battle fo nce since it r what it is is accepted b y taking risk s and chan ces.

Au g ust Dec emb er

–