Posted on 04/04/2006 7:36:28 AM PDT by Mr. Silverback
Why would well-heeled folks dress up to attend a fancy gathering where they could admire a urinal? Because it’s art, of course! Or, at least, so they think.
This spring’s Dada exhibit at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., celebrates what the Washington Post describes as “the most radical, irreverent, rule-breaking movement in the history of Western art.”
In case you’re unfamiliar, the term dada means exactly what it sounds like: nonsense. As H. R. Rookmaaker described it, Dada “was a nihilistic creed of disintegration, showing the meaninglessness of all Western thought, art, morals, traditions.” It raises the common to the level of the revered. Hence, Marcel Duchamp sticks a urinal on a wall and titles it “Fountain.”
It’s odd that the movement’s fans laud it as great art, because Dada by definition seeks the demise of art. Echoing Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead, Nathanael Blake writes at Townhall.com, “to abolish art, you declare a manufactured urinal to be a masterpiece.”
Some say the Dada movement continued the destruction of art that began with cubism, which preceded it. German Dada artist Kurt Schwitters said he built “new things . . . out of fragments.” Post writer Michael O’Sullivan describes Dada as “a putting back together of a broken, senseless world [after World War I], only not with the glue of logic, and not in any sense back to the way things were.”
And there, you see, is the problem. Dada sees the fragmentation of the world—and celebrates that brokenness. But true artists “do not merely reflect the world’s brokenness,” writes Erik Lokkesmoe in BreakPoint WorldView magazine. “The truth-telling artists, rather, also remind us there is more to the story . . . and call us to rise from our defensive crouch to again pursue the faith, hope, and love that abide even in the valley of death.”
“In every time and place and in every culture,” writes Jerry Eisley, founder of the Washington Arts Group, “art has ultimately flowed from worship.” However, artists since the early twentieth century have abandoned the “idea of an ideal measure of goodness and truth linked with beauty.” The splintering and extreme individualism that characterize modern art are indicative of the spirit of the postmodern age. Yes, this world is broken, but the role of the artist is to point us toward wholeness.
Art is not dead, however, nor has the Church abandoned it, as illustrated by the resurgence of Christians in the arts—people like Lokkesmoe and Eisley. And another believer whose art flows from her worship of God is Kim Daus-Edwards. Kim’s latest work is her book of photographs, Force of the Spirit, that “represents a surrender to the idea of the holy through the medium of photography.” These black-and-white images are coupled with Scripture and draw in the viewer to meditate on universal truths. “Even though we may turn away from it, the Spirit’s power is ever-present and emerges regularly in our lives,” she says.
The world may be broken and seem random, but that is not the end of truth. And true art points toward the ultimate restoration of our fallen existence. Too bad the National Gallery of Art doesn’t realize that.
I totally agree with you. In the beginning, it was fun! And never meant to be taken seriously. When fools started to think they could elevate themselves by seeing some imaginary meaning in it did it really become a pain in the @$$. Like the Oldenburgs, totally! Who really needs a giant lumpy melted ice cream cone in the middle of the park? But the original dadaists, even if they were "anti-artists" had a really cool visual style mixed with humor that was quite appealing. I think it had a positive influence on graphic design, even if a negative one on "fine art".
I think the art elites are easily entertained.
Well, I refuse to make room for dada. :-)
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
I studied religious art while in seminary. The thesis was that art reaches its highest form when it inspires the observer to experience the numena, the ethereal. Seems like so much drivel to me today.
I don-t know anything about art but I know what I like.
Now: doo doo
Some nihilistic artists are and were capable of producing fine works of art, including Picasso, Duchamp and Man Ray. Much of their output was puzzling at best, but one is astonished at the rare gems, for example Duchamp's "Nude Descending a Staircase." If Duchamp had never joined any group or uttered any nonsensical opinions, the work would be seen today for what it is: a beautiful expression of man's longing for the sublime. Did Duchamp have an ulterior motive for the piece? Probably. And so we dismiss it as a grand con. The painting is weighed down by its century.
You're welcome, of course.
I don't know why that one qualifies as dada...I mean, it looks like a real painting. :-)
In 1925 an American painter made the most significant statement of his own "ism". Working without the benefit of copying the "masters", this painter made compositions from his ideas about the great American western landscape.
MAYNARD DIXON "CLOUD WORLD"
Thankfully, there's also a French Impressionist exhibit which salvaged this foray into the arts.
Art ping!
Let Republicanprofessor, me or woofie know if you want on or off the art ping list.
A thread with a religious theme, but pertinent.
I'm not a tremendous fan of Dali, though I still admire his work, and even his showmanship. I own a book by him on classical painting technique that is pretty good, even though filled with his own witticisms.
I much like that painting of the girl in the window...although dreamy, it hardly looks surreal. Am I missing something in it?
Am I missing something in it?
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