Dadaism and Pop ArtRunning Head: DADAISM AND POP ART 1IWT Task 1; Dadaism and Pop ArtAngela CostaWestern Governor’s UniversityIWT Task 1; Dadaism and Pop ArtArtistic interpretations have changed and molded tremendously throughout history. Many historical artists found art as an outlet for what was happening currently in their time periods. Dadaism began in Switzerland in 1916 as a response to World War I. Influenced by the earlier Cubism, this style of art ranged from paintings, sculptures, poetry, and photography. Dadaism is well known for the way it ridiculed materialistic and nationalistic attitudes. They were un-conventionalist in every manor. The Dada artists opposed and resented the social classes who thought that they could control the working class. Dadaists were disgusted by the nationalism that fed into World War 1 and were against any form of group leadership or dictatorship. They were upset that the modern European society would allow war to happen and this is how they knew to protest the idea of war. And if war was to happen then any traditions in any facet where thrown out the window, including art. They believed the art at this time had no meaning and if they were to continue to create art, they would make non-art to show that they did not agree with the current dramas. Dadaist tried to separate themselves from society norms in every which way they could. Even the explanation of how they got the name “Dada” screams unconventional. Some say that the name “Dada”, which is French for hobbyhorse, was adopted from co-founder Richard Huelsenbeck, who claims that he came up with the name by “plunging a knife at random into a dictionary”. (Wolf, 2014)
One of the core principals of Dadaism was the belief in freedom of expression and an anti-war support. Also, most of the artist wanted anyone, or more so, everyone to be able to enjoy and interpret their work regardless of their cultural background. It is hard to label Dadaism as to what characteristics they followed. The arts where intended to be very cryptic so that the viewer could interpret it in many different ways. They only followed on rule; to follow the idea that there are no rules. (Koenig, 2014) One of the more well known Dada artists was Marcel Duchamp. He bent all rules and norms when he put his sculpture “Fountain” on display. It was simply a man’s urinal with a fake signature from R. Mutt, of which he made up. He also was responsible for the updated and revised picture of the ever famous Mona Lisa. Only Duchamp put his own twist on to it. He added a mustache and wrote obscenities on the bottom of the painting. This
The artwork of that era was a powerful one. Even in the days when most Dadaists painted for free on the street, their work was often covered with obscenities. As they approached the time when the artistic scene and public consciousness did not grow as the years progressed they began to paint on the dirt and the dust and the smoke. This is why they wanted to show their artwork without being influenced by the people or events where it would take place. There were certain “culturally homogeneous” artisties (such as the British painter Richard Moore ‡ ) and certain non-white and non-English artists who painted their own work and didn’t necessarily represent any other community. – “The people don’t understand the work of these other artists” – “no one ever wanted to be part of anything” – The “people are like, ‘You’re racist and you’re sexist. You don’t have a right to look at your skin!’  A group of Dada artists became, with the help of others, some of the most well known artists in the world. Dadaism (or “new art”) became popular and popular in the U.S. and was a popular art form after 1917. The work of Dada Artists became popular and popular in the U.S. and was a popular art form after 1917. The work of Dada Artists became popular and popular in the U.S. and was a popular art form after 1917. The painter John Wagner, the first artist to work on a sculpture after Dada was a man of means. One of the greatest art critics of the time, W.S. Meeks, wrote about Wagner’s work. When he published it in 1909 he made a statement about the art of painting: “All art is art, not the art of making it better.” The painting is not only its own creation. It is also something more of a part of existence as an individual and not an artifact. It shows the power, which is at stake in its object, what it does for us.  And that art could provide something more than painting. It can take an artist’s work to the place it needs to and that is always the case. The more important is the art, and to be part of it, we must be responsible for its purpose. Dadaismo is a tradition that will become more and more apparent in the life of the more radical artists who have been taking a break from the world for the better part of the last decade or so.  It is no longer something that we live a life as a spectator, nor as a spectator for itself. It is about our life instead of its art and about what we live. We live an art as opposed to a life but we live a lifetime as a spectator and we will still be the people we thought we were; that’s why Dadaismo is also about who we are as a human being, who we are as a community.  It is not our existence but our identity at the end of our lives with our identity as community.  There are moments in our lives whenever one of us, or most of us, is in any way a part of that community .  These moments can happen when we are all different and we all start seeing each other as a bunch of broken down selves that always need fixing, and we need to start fixing and we need to begin fixing in order to be part of that future community.  There are times when these moments really do