dada
Toddler's first word
Dada is baby talk for father, one of the earliest words many children produce.
The reduplicated syllables are easy for infants to articulate, making dada and mama universal across languages.
Adults use it when speaking to small children: Say dada!
Where's dada? (Capitalized Dada is the early 20th-century art movement.)
Meaningless words or actions
- illogicalContrary to valid reasoning
- irrationalLacking sound judgment
- paradoxSeemingly absurd truth
- chaosComplete disorder and confusion
gibberish · meaningless · incoherent · random · chance · arbitrary · purposeless · futile
Swiss financial center
- Cabaret VoltaireAvant-garde Zurich venue
- Marcel DuchampUrinal-as-art provocateur
- Man RayAvant-garde photographer, Dadaist
- Max ErnstDada and Surrealism pioneer
Tristan Tzara · Kurt Schwitters · Berlin · Paris · New York · manifesto · anti-war · anti-bourgeois
Assembled mixed-media artwork
- photomontageCombined image artwork
- assemblageCollected group of things
- readymadePrepared in advance
- montageAssembled sequence of images
cut-up · found object · anti-art · sound poetry · performance art · typography · abstraction · destruction
Hazy and fantastical
- irrationalLacking sound judgment
- uncannyEerily beyond normal
- bizarreStrikingly unconventional
- grotesqueDistorted, bizarre figure
fantastical · hallucinatory · unconscious · automatism · juxtaposition · metamorphosis · disorientation · illogical
Testing new methods
- radicalRoot-indicating symbol
- revolutionarySeeking fundamental systemic change
- unconventionalDeparting from standard practice
- groundbreakingIntroducing radical new ideas
pioneering · innovative · nontraditional · progressive · modernism · futurism · expressionism · cubism
Opposing dominant institutions
- rebellionDefiance of established power
- subversionUndermining established authority
- provocationAct that triggers response
- dissentDisagreement with authority
rejection · defiance · resistance · disruption · satire · parody · critique · bourgeoisie
nonsense
Meaningless words or actions
- illogicalContrary to valid reasoning
- irrationalLacking sound judgment
- paradoxSeemingly absurd truth
chaos · gibberish · meaningless · incoherent · random · chance · arbitrary · purposeless · futile · pointless
Zurich
Swiss financial center
- Cabaret VoltaireAvant-garde Zurich venue
- Marcel DuchampUrinal-as-art provocateur
- Man RayAvant-garde photographer, Dadaist
Tristan Tzara · Kurt Schwitters · Max Ernst · Berlin · Paris · New York · manifesto · anti-war · anti-bourgeois · nihilism
collage
Assembled mixed-media artwork
- photomontageCombined image artwork
- assemblageCollected group of things
- readymadePrepared in advance
montage · cut-up · found object · anti-art · sound poetry · performance art · typography · abstraction · destruction · bricolage
dreamlike
Hazy and fantastical
- irrationalLacking sound judgment
- uncannyEerily beyond normal
- bizarreStrikingly unconventional
grotesque · fantastical · hallucinatory · unconscious · automatism · juxtaposition · metamorphosis · disorientation · illogical · strange
experimental
Testing new methods
- radicalRoot-indicating symbol
- revolutionarySeeking fundamental systemic change
- unconventionalDeparting from standard practice
groundbreaking · pioneering · innovative · nontraditional · progressive · modernism · futurism · expressionism · cubism · constructivism
anti-establishment
Opposing dominant institutions
- rebellionDefiance of established power
- subversionUndermining established authority
- provocationAct that triggers response
dissent · rejection · defiance · resistance · disruption · satire · parody · critique · bourgeoisie · convention
- baby talkmama, papa, mommy, daddy, boo-boo
- Daddad, daddy, papa, pop, father
- Indian Familybeta, bhai, nana, chacha, mama
- infant developmentbabbling, developmental milestones, crawling, first steps, developmental delay
- familymother, father, parents, siblings, parent
- art worldartist, painter, painting, paintings, sculpture
dadaclassicism
Adherence to ancient artistic principles
academicism · neoclassicism · realism · naturalism · rationalism