Dada blog

For this blog I have selected an automated drawing by Hans (or Jean) Arp – 1886-1966. He was a German/French sculptor, painter, poet and abstract artist in other mediums. He moved to Switzerland in 1915 as it was neutral and he feigned mental ill health to avoid being drafted into the German Army. In 1920 he set up the Cologne Dada group.

This automated drawing is untitled and is inscribed as 1916. It is ink and pencil on paper.

Arp experimented with “automatic drawings”. He was inspired by natural forms such as roots and twigs. He didn’t draw what he could see, instead he would give free rein to his brush and his imagination. He would work quickly and he would deliberately try not to control the drawing he was creating, rather he would allow his subconscious and chance to determine how it looked!

To understand why Arp tried this form of art we need to consider the events of the time.

The Dada movement consisted of artists who rejected the logic, reason and aestheticism of the society at the time. It was this logic and reason which was sending millions of men to War to their deaths and Dadaists used art to express their discontent with violence, war and nationalism. They did this by expressing nonsense and irrationality through their art. They did that by producing the opposite of what art had always stood for, they did not follow the traditional boundaries of art which was painting and sculpture, and they didn’t seek to present something aesthetically pleasing – they wanted to offend!

Dadaists embraced new methods of making art and they advocated impersonal art that did not rely on artistic skill and did not reflect an individual’s personality. They used collage, photo montage, sound poetry, assemblages (a collage with objects), cut up writing and sculpture. They used “ready mades” which were everyday objects found or purchased and declared as art. There was no specific style, it was more about the overall message their art was conveying. Their art was ironic and absurd and negative. It aimed to shock the public out of their complacency.

They used the idea that you can use anything to make art, which was radical then, however common now.

Arp’s automatic drawing makes a mockery of previous art and the people who looked at it. He is portraying what might be viewed as one step up from a child’s scribble as art. This seems to me to be completely in line with the Dadaist ethos!

The Dada movement fizzled out as a result of post war optimism however it did lead to the development of new movements in art and literature.