Dada and Duchamp

            The Dadaist movement was born out of the negative reaction to the horrors of World War I, and as a reactant to the conceptual standards of art in the modern world. The goal of Dada artists was to mock the meaninglessness of that world and question the notion of art itself. They did this by challenging the perception of the viewer, leaving their pieces open to interpretation. Dadaists relied on chance rather than inflicting meaning into their works, making the movement less of a movement and more of a game. Being a byproduct and critical response by nature, this “game” was anti-war as well as anti-bourgeois. Its unruliness was a sort of mimic to the chaos and collapse of bourgeois cultural values, which crumbled due to the destruction of war. Surrealism, which came later, was also a movement to work against the cultural values and social construct of the time. They imposed a revolution to break away from the expectations of these standards. Although not directly associated with the Dadaists, Marcel Duchamp played a very important role in sharing their goals and challenging order and art.

            Duchamp’s piece, Fountain, is a prime example of the disarray of Dada. It is simply a urinal turned on its side with his signature. With its release in 1917 came scandal. Duchamp had submitted this piece into a jury-free exhibition, meaning that anyone was able to enter the show. Yet, somehow, the show’s committee rejected it, which drew attention. In turn, Duchamp published a defense in rebuttal to what the exhibition had done, expressing his feelings and theories concerning the basis of art. He raised questions on what qualified as art, having no part in its production other than the concept driving it. Could readymade or found objects be considered art? Who is to define art in the first place? I don’t believe in art as a concrete practice. Nobody has the authority to determine what constitutes a piece of art, and therefore, anything can be considered art. I also don’t think that the artist must physically make his piece to be considered an artist. If anything is an art, this includes ideas. With these in mind, anybody can be an artist. This is what Duchamp and other Dada artists wanted people to realize. If there is to be peace in the world, we must not take things so seriously.
            These are the boundaries that Marcel Duchamp was attempting to push with his works, invoking thought and seeking reaction. Even if his pieces are being criticized in a negative way, that person is still criticizing them as art. Even if they are to say, “That’s not art.” In this way, it was impossible for Duchamp to ever fail. His creative ingeniousness reshaped the form, content, and concept of art.