Dada

Duration: 12:00

Year Published: 1967

Creator: Greta Deses

Complete Record: A discussion about the history and influence of Dadaism from leading German, French and English exponents. This film was made to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Dadaism. In the beginning credits, ghostly white disembodied hands type on an analog typewriter. Cartoons of “leaders” of the time. Max Ernst speaking says “We, the dadaists . . . have exploded the bomb. The pieces have spread throughout the world. The museums are trying to reassemble them -- to present them to the public as relics.” Gabriele Buffet says: “It is at the same time, very easy -- and very difficult to explain. The way to go about it was to explain the most serious questions . . . in an absurd manner or as a joke.” Hans Richter says: “Dada is multivalent. There were dadaists such as Hugo Ball, idealists searching . . . a new form of art and the nihilists like Marcel Duchamp, Picabia, Serner, Tzara . . . who did not care . . . about a new form of art . . . but had one goal: . . . to finish with all forms of art practiced at the time.” Marcel Duchamp: “What was happening in ‘16, ‘17, ‘18 . . . the dada-movement in New York or Paris, . . . the intellectual current at least . . . could only bear its fruits 40 years later.” Man Ray: “For once it was the dadaists themselves that gave them the name. You know, it was the critics themselves who attacked the painters.” Hans Richter: “Tzara declared on April the 18th 1916 . . . long before the word ‘dada’ invaded the world . . . that a word was born nobody knew how.” Arp declared: “Tzara invented the word” . . . “on February the 6th 1916 at 18:00 hrs. I was there with my twelve children when Tzara pronounced the word for the first time. It was at the cafe de la Terrasse in Zurich and I had a bun in my left nostril.” Man Ray speaks in English, but other artists speak in their native languages and there are English subtitles. This film is commentary by the artists involved with Dada with examples of their work. Richter explains that the artists were all in Switzerland which was quiet during WWI. The artists were outraged by the degradation of human kind caused by the war. There are images of Zurich, soldiers, men, refugees, dead people, destroyed buildings, etc. The artists were afraid of “bandits” seizing the power and using art to drug the people. The artists searched for an elementary art to restore equilibrium. Dada was a reaction against the horrors and injustices the artists saw about them. Lone figure walks down narrow street in Zurich. In 1916, Hugo Ball founded at n 1 Spiegelgasse the cabaret called “Voltaire” . . . where Dadaism was born.” There is an image of a lighted sign for “Voltaire” in the film. Three artists offered Ball their services: Tristan Tzara, Marcel Janko, and a third (whose name Richter forgets). Hans Arp was there as a decorator. Emmy Hennings sang in her small but touching voice, Ball played the piano, and the cabaret came into being. Reenactment of a “Voltaire” cabaret performance: While some of the gross details of this reenactment might be correct, stylistically it is not true to Rudolph von Laban [Laban misspelled on film credits] to whom the choreographer (husband of the director) for inspiration. Arp is shown playing the piano. Three musicians playing on hand-held percussion instruments dance with two greco-garbed women. A dunce-like cartoon inhabited by an actor seems to utter jibberish, and he is pushed off the stage by the percussion players as vegetables pelt the stage. Three men in suits chant (jibberish ?). Women dancers put cartoon masks on the men. The percussionists and chanters are left on stage. One masked man says he is a joker, a hoaxer, ugly. He says his face is without expression, like the audience members. Dada feels nothing; it is nothing; nothing, nothing, (repeated endlessly). Gabriele says that the cabaret frequenters and performers were all intellectuals, yet all participated in “these jokes” that were deeply serious. Cutting up of a newspaper article demonstrated as a way of making a poem. The random order of the selection process would redefine the art and artist. Gabriele says no one got that they were “dadaists” but they did see that it was a revolt against the situation of the times. The movement was a violent opposition -- ridicule,. joker, etc. Duchamp’ work is shown. He talks about the similarity between the movement in New York City and Zurich being remarkably alike. In the US, the artists despised the audience. Cartoons and drawings illustrated. Duchamp discusses the inspiration for his “Nude Descending the Staircase.” He said it was influenced by the physicists of the time, Marez (French), Maybridge (English) [Did he mean Edward Muybridge?] and divided static planes of movement of body. Duchamp says he did not intend “the bottle rack,” to be a sculpture in any sense of the meaning. He called these sculptures he made “ready-mades.” The film shows many of his sculptures with the camera a means to explore them dimensionally. Duchamp said that he and other dadaist did not involve the public intentionally. Interesting aerial view of Man Ray behind a desk in his studio. Then camera captures him in MS facing camera. Ray says that he is interested in transformation -- adding another dimension to an ordinary object. Uses metronome as example of making it into a sound object but visual object as well. Demonstrates metronome. He says he calls these objects, “objects to be destroyed” as after awhile he compulsively wants to destroy it for its annoyance factor. To keep photography from becoming a bore, he presents to space the image he rejects . . . that is, with his clenched hands, the movements of his head captures it . . . and guards it in his breast.” Images of the contradictions in the Dadaist print art. Shot of worker with ladder and glue pot putting up Dada poster on kiosk. Presumably a man in white spats --that is all that is seen -- watches. Supposedly intellectuals -- man and woman -- also identified by their foot wear read sign [which is translated by the narrator.] Ernst speaks on the difference between French and German dadaists. The French Dadaists wanted to stay above the fray [example of cartoon, artist floating as an Eros figure above the situations observed]. The Berlin Dadaists went back to Germany and got involved in politics whereby they converted themselves to Communism. In Cologne things worked out differently. There were two factions: The “trouble makers” Baargeld and Richter. They “provoked as much disorder as possible“ through their exhibitions and printed work. This activity was forbidden by law. Examples of work shown. Switters renounced bougeoise notions of art and lived for Dada. Interesting statements from Ernst and Duchamp re: Dada becoming collectable, institutionalized, etc.