What are the characteristics of dadaism?

Answer 1

Dadaism, or simply "Dada", is often referred to as anti-art. The movement began around 1916 and was intended as a deliberately anti-elitist and anti-intellectual movement. As such, Dadaist works often challenge the very definition of what is considered "high art"--a characteristic that has been described as both a degradation of artistic traditions, or the reinvention of art itself. Perhaps one of the most iconic Dadaist works is a sculpture entitled "Fountain", and attributed to the artist Marcel Duchamp. (There is some debate as to whether this was a Duchamp work, or the result of a collaboration. The original version, now missing, was prominently signed, "R. Mutt".) The "Fountain" was, in fact, a common urinal that was slightly modified to stand alone as a work of art. In utilizing a prefabricated object, which was not originally intended as a piece of art, Duchamp simultaneously addressed several important questions. Among these are, "What is of greater importance: the craft of making the work, or the concept behind it?" "Fountain" stands as a direct challenge to longstanding traditions governing the medium, fabrication and subject matter of works ascribed as "high art". In utilizing a prefabricated form--a commercially produced urinal--Duchamp pioneered what he would refer to as "readymades". This innovation would later point the way for Pop Art, and a new generation of artists who would warmly embrace the techniques of mass production and commercial subject matter.