Introduction to Dada The Dada art movement was born in 1915 during the first World War. It was a cultural as well as political reaction against the horrors of war, the spread of imperialism, as well as the social and moral values of the time. Dada introduced elements of shock, nonsense, playfulness, and confusion into artworks to disrupt traditional perceptions about art at the time. Dada introduced techniques of collage, word-images, and found-object sculpture, or "readymades". Its irreverence and use of chance events paved the way for Surrealism; in fact many "Dadas" became Surrealists after Dada was declared "dead" in 1923. Elements of Dada live on in art movements and media today. Surrealism, Pop Art, and Fluxus, as well as fields such as graphic design, poetry, theater, advertising, performance art, and book design have been influenced by Dada. During its accepted lifetime of 1915-1923, the Dadas were active in the cities of Zurich, Berlin, Hannover, Cologne, Paris, and New York. Well-known Dada artists include Hans (Jean) Arp, Hugo Ball, Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, Richard Huelsenbeck, Francis Picabia, Man Ray, Hans Richter, Kurt Schwitters, and Tristan Tzara. Scope of this Pathfinder This pathfinder provides access points for beginning research into the Dada movement as well as represents the wide range of materials that San Francisco Public Library has on the subject of the Dada movement. Unless otherwise specified, all print items can be found on the 4th floor of the Main Branch of San Francisco Public Library. Some reference or valuable items require assistance from the 4th floor Page Desk staff. Other items may be on the 5th floor in Periodicals or the 3rd floor in general collections. |