Dadaist
Zurich absurdity devotee
A Dadaist is someone who creates art or literature in the Dada style, or who subscribes to the principles of Dada—an early 20th-century avant-garde movement that rejected logic, reason, and conventional aesthetics in favor of absurdity, chance, and deliberate nonsense.
Dadaists embraced chaos as a response to what they saw as the meaninglessness of modern society, particularly after World War I.
The term works as both noun and adjective: a Dadaist poet, Dadaist collage techniques.
Swiss financial center
- Cabaret VoltaireAvant-garde Zurich venue
- Marcel DuchampUrinal-as-art provocateur
- readymadePrepared in advance
- anti-artRejection of conventional aesthetics
Tristan Tzara · manifesto · collage · photomontage · assemblage · cut-up · found object · Kurt Schwitters
Assembled mixed-media artwork
- photomontageCombined image artwork
- assemblageCollected group of things
- typographyArranging letters for display
- found objectRepurposed everyday item as art
readymade · performance · cabaret · poetry · mixed media · juxtaposition · fragmentation · abstraction
Meaningless words or actions
- absurdWildly illogical
- illogicalContrary to valid reasoning
- irrationalLacking sound judgment
- meaninglessLacking significance or purpose
paradox · chaos · randomness · incoherence · gibberish · whimsy · sound poetry · provocative
Rejection of conventional aesthetics
- subversionUndermining established authority
- iconoclasmAttacking revered traditions
- defianceOpen resistance to authority
- protestPublic expression of disapproval
rejection · radical · anarchism · dissent · bourgeois · provocation · scandal · outrage
First global military conflict
- pacifismAntiwar moral stance
- neutralityState of taking sides
- protestPublic expression of disapproval
- disillusionmentBitter loss of faith
trauma · critique · satire · political · militarism · destruction · senselessness · resistance
Zurich
Swiss financial center
- Cabaret VoltaireAvant-garde Zurich venue
- Marcel DuchampUrinal-as-art provocateur
- readymadePrepared in advance
Tristan Tzara · anti-art · manifesto · collage · photomontage · assemblage · cut-up · found object · Kurt Schwitters · Man Ray
collage
Assembled mixed-media artwork
- photomontageCombined image artwork
- assemblageCollected group of things
- typographyArranging letters for display
found object · readymade · performance · cabaret · poetry · mixed media · juxtaposition · fragmentation · abstraction · deconstruction
nonsense
Meaningless words or actions
- absurdWildly illogical
- illogicalContrary to valid reasoning
- irrationalLacking sound judgment
meaningless · paradox · chaos · randomness · incoherence · gibberish · whimsy · sound poetry · provocative · shocking
anti-art
Rejection of conventional aesthetics
- subversionUndermining established authority
- iconoclasmAttacking revered traditions
- defianceOpen resistance to authority
protest · rejection · radical · anarchism · dissent · bourgeois · provocation · scandal · outrage · destruction
World War I
First global military conflict
- pacifismAntiwar moral stance
- neutralityState of taking sides
- protestPublic expression of disapproval
disillusionment · trauma · critique · satire · political · militarism · destruction · senselessness · resistance · exile
- Nonconformistsnonconformist, rebels, rebel, misfits, misfit
Dadaistclassicist
Scholar of antiquity
traditionalist · rationalist · neoclassicist · realist · formalist
Dadaistrationalist
One guided by reason
logician · positivist · moralist · utilitarian · reductionist
Dadaisttraditionalist
Adherent to established customs
conformist · conservative · institutionalist · court painter · revivalist