Dada and Surrealism

 

-- the Avant Garde and Modernism

A. Modern/modernity/Modernism: what is it?
Two views on Modernity:
1. culmination of Enlightenment rationality
2. ideology and the rise of industrial capitalism

Modernism: a cultural reaction to modernity

 

B. mini-review: Avant garde: evolution of the term
Three views on the avant garde
positive

negative

contested

Canonical examples

 

C. Changes wrt the Avant garde

The avant garde : Second half of the 18th century
The avant garde 1920s and 30s

Dada "true dadaists are against dada"
vs. Futurists

-- Cabaret Voltaire

-- context
-- underlying ideas

 

 

women in/and dada
Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven

Hannah Hocke

Juliette Roche

 

Surrealism:

-- in some respects an outgrowth of Dada

-- the subconscious: dreams, automatism

Andre Breton)

a game

 

 

some conclusions:

-- 'avant garde; is a contested term and has meant different things historically and in different cultural contexts

-- the IDEA of modern life and IDEAS used to make sense of modern life have been of great interest to artists working in all disicplines -- some artists embraced modernity in their work (speed! from last week) some have rejected key features -- like enlightenment rationality

 

 

 

viewing: Europe after the Rain: Surrealism and dada

 

 

questions:

1. In the interview you read for today Bill T. Jones is asked in relation to a piece of choreography "But what if it becomes an exercise without relating to anything? What if it doesn't mean anything?

Jones replies -- What did Dada mean? can you articulate the argument Jones is suggesting here?

 

2. What is the rleationship between the futurists we discussed last week and the artists and thinkers we're discussing this week?

 

3. what doe an undertsanding of the changing definition of avant garde help us to understand? Do we have an avant garde now? What kind?

 

4. can you think of any contemporary artists who use ideas of chance to structure their artistic practice? dreams? automatism? (How) do YOU try to break out of conventional thinking in order to produce art? What techniques do you use?