The Dadaists: a Synopsis.
THE DADAISTS is the true story of the painters and poets who gathered in a small Zurich cabaret during World War I and continually sought, through artistic experiments, for a way out of a world hell-bent on war and destruction.
DADA was the turn that shaped 20th century art. It influenced Surrealism, the Expressionists, the Beat Poets, Andy Warhol, Punk Rock and Performance Artists to this day. It grew from a contemptuous response towards a culture and society that accepted a war that was annihilating 5,600 civilians and soldiers every day.
29-year-old HUGO BALL was introduced to a theory by his friend and peer, Wasily Kandinsky, known as Gestamekunstwerk (Total Art). It was a notion that theorized an immense power behind uniting the many forms of art: theatre, music, dance, poetry, painting, puppetry, etc. In the storage room of a local bar located off the beaten path down a small alley in the red light district of Zurich, Hugo Ball and his girlfriend, the singer-chanteuse EMMY HENNINGS, began Cabaret Voltaire. Painter HANS-JEAN ARP with girlfriend SOPHIE TAUBER and a young Romanian named TRISTAN TZARA joined in immediately. It was a cabaret open to all where everyone could give free expression to their creativity.
Hugo's friend DR. RICHARD HUELSENBECK arrived from Berlin and, with provocative attitude, disdain for all - and a drum, amped up the Voltaire by challenging the performers around him and the audience. His arrival was a turning point with the group and significantly influenced and altered the orientation of the cabaret.
These artists were a 'six piece band', playing their instruments, searching for that kernel of creativity and expression that could pave the way to freedom. They began to realize the only way they could be free was to create new forms of poetry, to rely on the laws of accident and chance. The experiences of free association gave them a vital energy and the birth of a name...Dada.
With Dada, the group found their battle cry and the birth of a new identity. The bourgeoisie didn't seem to understand them and The Dadaists refused to define themselves, making them both notorious and all the rage of Zurich.
Dadaism reminded
the world of independent spirits. It was a mixture of outrage, argument
and absurdity that involved an almost childlike love of games. It was
always driven towards finding a solution to end the war, towards waking
people up from the unconscious dream - be it through anger or laughter.
It was intentionally without logic at times, driven by chance and fantasy.
These goals were pursued with passion, obsession and with a diversity
unequaled elsewhere and at no other time in history.
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