Dadaism etc.

Fighting art with art is Dada. Political in nature, Dada is at it’s base an expression of misery and sedation.

Says wikipedia:

Dada activities included public gatherings, demonstrations, and publication of art/literary journals. Passionate coverage of art, politics, and culture filled their publications. The movement was a protest against the barbarism of World War I, the bourgeois interests that Dada adherents believed inspired the war, and what they believed was an oppressive intellectual rigidity in both art and everyday society. The movement influenced later styles, movements, and groups including surrealism, Pop Art and Fluxus. Dada was an international movement, and it is difficult to classify artists as being from any one particular country, as they were constantly moving from one place to another.

Enough history. Dada for me is all about a repel/appeal dichotomy. Something you’re simultaneously attracted to and disgusted by. Maybe something beautiful has been marred, or it apeals to one sense while offending the others. In the case of furniture (my favorite example for talking about Dada.), a chair could be well apolstered and solid, however there’s a whole in the seat and when a crank is pulled a spike pokes you in a butt. Or no crank. Just a big spike on the seat, so you there’s no way to sit at all.

Of course, there is not aesthetic ’style’ of Dada. It’s more of a spirit, or atmosphere.

To think about Dada objectively, you have to grasp what it means to history and human’s path of expression. It pushed every limit and explored what an object’s cultural context could express. At the same time it involved the participant in real time. It was a movement of audience participation. You had to involve yourself or you’d walk away with nothing. It’s not easy on the audiance. Work is involved.

It’s pretty sweet.

Back after reprieve

I received disappointment from friends and family lately about the lack of art on this site. I found myself becoming as disappointed as their voices. So I got down to thinking.

I have a couple options. here are the requisites I laid out for this to work:

1. I don’t want to do a lot of work.
2. I want it to be easy to update.
3. I have all my art in iphoto, and it would be nice if I could utilize that.

if anybody has any good ideas on this i’d like to hear about it.