VISD 2B39

Hugo Ball reciting ‘Verse ohne Worte’ (Song without Words), Cabaret Voltaire, Zurich, 1916. Photographic enlargement of a postcar, 28x15 in (71.5 x 40 cm) Kunsthaus, Zurich.  Page 133

Standing in the center of the image, wearing a rather abstract and singular costume, Hugo Ball succeeds at portraying the Dada’s philosophy. His awkward pose and innocent look compliment together in an unconventional photograph that not only describes the famous performances organized by the Dada group but also their ideology. Dada is known as an art movement that originated in Zurich during the First World War, created by young artists as an activist response to the cruelty and injustice of their time. Until this day, it is clear that Dadaism is one of the most confusing art movements out there because it contradicts itself and demands to be recognized as a form of anti-art. Unlike many other movements, Dadaism included various sorts of mixed media, literary and musical experiments and theatre performances. It was open for everyone to play around and experience since they saw no boundaries when it came to expressing their ideas and opinions.  Cabaret Voltaire was the ground spot for these performances and art exhibitions. It was originally created by Hugo Ball, a young intellectual eager to combine his friend’s art work with the work of fresh artists and performers. As a matter of fact he did not only support artists, he was also an artist and an innovator himself. He created the sound-poems that were performed at Cabaret Voltaire. These poems were part of a literary experiment that created a whole new language made up of chance and play. His performances consisted of random set-ups, as seen in the picture, that created a special atmosphere for the audience. The photo resembles a cubic abstraction and depicts a high priest. Ball's costume of superiority is contrasted by his expression allowing this picture to depict a perfect image of what Dada stands for. Dada artists were superior to the rest because they saw no limits, but they were still young. Their youth and their freedom made them unique, their free spirit opened the door to new ideas, stepping away from traditional tough. Their artwork represented their freedom, expressed their youth and their rebellion against their social injustice.

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This article gives you a brief understanding of Dadaism. It starts off by giving the reader a basic background story that narrates the main events that make up this movement. The rest of the content emphasizes more in the political involvement of the Dadaists and gives good documentation of their interviews and writings. What attracted me the most about this source is that it states that the movement is quite problematic because it is hard to label it as one. In my essay I want to talk about Dadaism being anti-aesthetic and scandalous. I want to reinforce the notion of oddness that Hugo Ball’s picture represents. I also want to take in consideration the sound-poem performance that is taking place in the photo. By mentioning his act, I will be talking about the Dadaist’s forms of expression because I think its something that really matters. I will also express what makes their work anti-art and why they didn’t want to be labelled as a movement or a school.

 Stefan- Sebastian Maftei

Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies, Vol 9, No 27 (2010)

Department of philosophy, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

Between “Critique” and Propaganda: The Critical Self-understanding of Art in the Historical Avant-Garde. The Case of Dada

 
I will be using this small encyclopaedia entry to back up my basic information. It gives a brief summary of the history of the movement and its members. It will be useful for my first paragraph to successfully introduce Dada to the reader. In order to be able to emphasize in Hugo Ball’s picture I need to be able to explain how it all started. I don’t want to go into details, that is why I think this article is practical, because it is straight forward and clear.

Credo Reference Dada

"Dada". Bloomsbury Guide to Art

http://www.credoreference.com.ezproxy-library.ocad.ca/entry/bga/dada

These 90 paged book is complete with information about the Dada Movement. It is easy to read and understand, clean and organized. It starts by giving a background story but it not only talks about the young intellectuals in Zurich, it also includes Germany, Paris, New York and more. It also gives accurate articles of the most relevant artists of the movement with descriptions of their work. This book explains a good deal about the movement. What I decided to use for my essay is founded in the introductory pages. It talks about Hugo Ball and his position in the art movement. It gives a fairly good description of his performance and his art work. I will use part of these descriptions as well as documentary of his interviews.

Dietmar, Elger. Dadaism. Cologne: Taschen, 2006

For my Wikipedia source I decided to search for information about Cabaret Voltaire because I did not think the information that came up when I searched Dada was relevant. In my essay I wan to focus mostly in Hugo Ball and his performance in order to describe Dadaism and connect the information with an accurate description of the movement and the work they showcased. In my opinion these subjects are very connected, therefore I tough that talking about this meeting spot was important. Describing the activities that happened at Cabaret Voltaire helps the reader understand of the kind of events the Dada group organized.

Horoscope, values and your mom.

“You have entered the liberation phase on your cycle” is the ending sentence of this month’s Virgo horoscope which states that power concedes nothing without a demand. I totally agree with both points. I’m not a professional when it comes to talking about life, but at this point of my life I’m glad I gained the strength to understand who I am and where I want to go with my career and other special goals. March and April have challenged me in different ways, I not only had to solve personal problems regarding my mental health, also issues at home and conflicts with friends. This week I almost had to sue one of my “friends” for using my portfolio picture for an insulting meme that was mainly created to mock my work and disrespect me as a person. I used my poor communication skills and grammar to express my opinion and I was not only insulted I was also disrespected. I controlled the situation and I understood that I had the right to tell my professional photographer about it, because in the end is not only my work is also his. This whole issue got solved eventually but I still lost a “friend” and I will probably yell at him if I see him or at least say some things, because I did a lot of thinking about this whole situation. I realized I can’t let anyone make fun of what I do and what I stand for. I know this whole problem involved ignorant kids with nothing else to do, who wanted to troll me for being foreign and having different opinions. I don’t really want to talk about this problems anymore, but I wasted a lot of time trying to solve it and not let it get me, even though I spent a whole day just crying because I though nobody has the right to play with my work like this. This note I’m writing right now, is to express my rage and also to try to explain the whole idea behind my nudes and why I post them on tumblr. First of all, I’m not professional I started modeling five years ago and I started doing artistic nudes only 3 years ago (I think). I started modelling as a hobby, something else to do and to make money on the side. I decided to show my body because I was already used to the idea of using nudes for art, since I had to take life drawing lessons since I was young, it wasn’t a bad idea for me and it wasn’t weird neither new. Second of all, it wasn’t easy. Modelling in general is hard especially if you come from a country where beauty is really looked upon. When I was little I wasn’t considered pretty and kids in my school made fun of my skinny legs. When I got to Canada I gained the confidence to be in front of the camera and I started experimenting with poses and themes. I worked with different photographers because they all had different styles and ideas. It worked out perfectly until I decided I wanted to try knowing more about my body by making artistic nudes. It was hard because I wasn’t confident enough to make good poses, until I got a hand of it. I swear I’m not Miss Mosh but I’m greatly influenced by her and her work. Unfortunately, some photographers got too comfortable and started asking for erotic content. I had a lot of fights because I stand against those kinds of nudes. I love porn and erotic photography, but is not for me in the sense that I don’t want to deal with that industry and I don’t want to do anything related to that subject matter. I choose to make art, and even though I was always influenced by suicide girls I eventually changed my mind. I don’t think erotic models are degrading; it’s just not for me. I personally want to learn how to express my body and show my freedom, not my open wet vagina. This whole nudity thing gave me a lot of problem and I’m not proud of a lot of decisions i had made in the way. The reason why I took the whole “meme” game so personally is because the people talking negative about me and what I stand for have never experienced anything regarding this subject. Yes, they have the right to articulate an opinion but they shouldn’t insult me without knowing me, my intentions and my experience. This all made me understand that I grew up a lot as a person. I can’t take shit from some people on internet who want to disrespect me. Everything in my life is going down the hill, but I won’t let it affect me because its life and I need to learn how to deal with it myself. I’m strong and I learned how to control my mind in order to not go insane. I still have a lot to learn and I will do everything I can to change for the better. I will keep my freedom of expression and my creativity and try to make my life easier and more colourful. F u c k b i t c h e s.