Surrealism & Dadaism

The Dada movement (1916 - 23) was anti-war, anti-materialistic and anti-nationalistic. Dada rejected traditional art standards and used nonsense to represent the senselessness of war and violence. Tristan Tzara (1896 - 1963) was a Romanian/French poet, essayist and performance artist. Tzara wrote the Dada Manifesto in 1918.

'I write a manifesto and I want nothing, yet I say certain things, and in principle I am against manifestos, as I am also against principles (half-pints to measure the moral value of every phrase too too convenient; approximation was invented by the impressionists). I write this manifesto to show that people can perform contrary actions together while taking one fresh gulp of air; I am against action; for continuous contradiction, for affirmation too, I am neither for nor against and I do not explain because I hate common sense.

DADA - this is a word that throws up ideas so that they can be shot down; every bourgeois is a little playwright, who invents different subjects and who, instead of situating suitable characters on the level of his own intelligence, like chrysalises on chairs, tries to find causes or objects (according to whichever psychoanalytic method he practices) to give weight to his plot, a talking and self-defining story.' - Dada Manifesto, Tzara.

Dada was the first conceptual art movement, where the aim of the artists wasn't to create an aesthetically pleasing piece but to craft works that generate difficult questions about society, the role of the artist and the meaning of art itself.

Surrealism developed out of dadaism. Surrealism is a 20th century artistic and literary movement that attempts to express the workings of the subconscious mind. While expressionist and cubists were concerned with painting the way we see, surrealists were more concerned about painting the way we think.

'"Surrealism is destructive, but it destroys only what it considers to be shackles limiting our vision".' - Salvador Dali, a Spanish surrealist.

'"I paint my own reality. The only thing I know is I paint because I need to, and I paint whatever passes through my head without any other consideration."' - Frida Kahlo, a Mexican artist and surrealist.

'"On second thought, I think I am more crazy than my goat"' - Remedios Varo, a Spanish Surrealist.

Surrealism defines a range of creative acts of revolt and efforts to liberate the imagination.

I, myself, have been a fan of surrealism for a long time. The randomness and creativity I think is both amusing and inspiring. Surrealists were not restricted by reality and so created crazy, non-naturalistic pieces that can be interpreted in so many ways. It's the sort of art I could never get bored of.

Ta Ta for now, my Lovelies.

Miss Blue.