Dadaism was incredibly revolutionary for the art work that followed it. This movement’s name, Dada, is complete gibberish nonsense, which is the basis of Dadaism. This movement began in early twentieth century following the first world war. This era started as one of mockery of what art was defined as in the past, specifically by the modern capitalist society.
Hannah Höch, Angst, 1970
Dadaism itself was supposed to mirror the absurdness of the mass hysteria caused by war, and it did. Greatly enough, this art movement reached big cities all around the world, like Berlin, Paris, and New York. This movement had audiences confused and appalled, and artists such as Hannah Höch, Marcel Duchamp, and Max Ernst, viewed this as a win!
Although those names are associated as founders of the Dada movement, they did not associate themselves with creating it, especially with Hugo Ball, who is viewed as a founder. The essence of Dada is the lack of definition and structure of any kind, and viewing themselves as creators of a revolutionary art movement would only be putting themselves in a box, which goes against what the movement stands for.
Marcel Duchamp, Fountain, 1917
Viewing Dadaism in a modern lens might be challenging, as some may view it as pointless, with art seeming so accessible in the current years. However, at this time, free speech still needed to be fought for, and art was far from inclusive, with art being exclusively controlled by the upper class bourgeois. Everyday objects with little manipulation by the artist were most negatively responded to by the general public, such as the famous Duchamp toilet piece (shown above), especially when art in previous movements were already pushing the boundaries with criticism, such as cubism and expressionism.
In my eyes, this movement is beautifully existential, as it makes every viewer question what value we give to objects, and pushes the boundary of what humans define as art. While government had the power to mass influence people to fight for their lives in war, artists had the power to redefine art to the public eye. This juxtaposition paved the way for modern artists who express their art on numerous platforms with freedom.