Assignment 6

Out of the art movements in this chapter I found the Dada movement the most interesting. The art of the Dada movement stood out significantly from other art of the 20th century. Artists in the movement claimed their work to be anti-art that started as a reaction to the mass amounts of killing during WWI. They rejected all traditions and through their art were searching for complete freedom. Much of the art created at this time were political posters, speaking out against the war. Chance placement and absurd titles where identifying factors of Dada art. Cubism and futurism also had their influences on Dada such as the way subjects are analyzed analysis of subject and futurism influenced and how time and movement were conveyed. Marcel Duchump was one of the most influential Dada artists, iconic for his full embrace of the theme of absolute freedom during the movement. He introduced the use of every day objects into his posters and sculptures, even making a urinal into art. One of his most significant pieces that caused protest among the public though was his reproduction of the Mona Lisa with a mustache, which spoke largely to the anti-art aspect of the movement. During the Dada movement photomontage was also introduced. This is the process of cutting a part different photographs and assembling them to make a new image. The choppiness and contrast of images used in this art at the time echoed the political statements of the time period. One of the significant artists of photomontage was John Heartfield. He used photomontage as a propaganda weapon, his targets included the Nazi party and Weimer Republic. Overall the Dada movement’s rejection of art and tradition in the past century and use of anti-art as a political statement as well as the introduction of photomontage, opened up doors in visual vocabulary and strip down typographic design to its traditional precepts.