Trends and Movements

Greetings, 

In this blog we're exploring trends and changes during the modern and post-modern times.

Surrealism

After World War I, when people were less angry, a new kind of art called Surrealism became popular. It explores how our minds work and shows up in both literature and art. Surrealism came about because some thought too much "rational thinking" caused the bad things in World War I. Andre Breton, who spoke for the surrealists, wrote the Surrealist Manifesto in 1924. He and Salvador Dali, a Spanish artist, talked about surrealism. Surrealists believed nature was stronger than humans.

This artwork, made in class, is a surreal painting. It doesn't have a fixed meaning, and to me, the shapes in the painting kinda look like the coronavirus.

Existentialism

Existentialism is a way of thinking about life and existence. It's like a philosophy where people ask big questions about why we're here, what our purpose is, and why life can feel strange or scary sometimes. The main idea is to discover the realness of life within yourself and embrace your individuality. Existentialists think a lot about feeling lost or anxious, the freedom to make choices, and the importance of being true to ourselves.

This way of thinking is connected to European philosophers from the 1800s and 1900s. They were interested in people and what it means to be human. Some early thinkers were Søren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, and writer Fyodor Dostoevsky. They didn't like the idea that everything could be explained with logic and were concerned about finding meaning in life. In the 1900s, more important figures like Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, and Simone de Beauvoir joined in. They all had different views on existentialism but explored what it really means to be alive and make choices.

Dadaism

Dada or Dadaism was an art movement in Europe during the early 1900s. It began in places like Zürich, Switzerland, at a spot called Cabaret Voltaire around 1916, started by Hugo Ball and Emmy Hennings. It also took off in Berlin around 1917 and became popular in Paris after 1920. In New York, Dadaism started around 1915, and artists kept doing Dada things until the mid-1920s.

Dada started after World War I. The artists didn't like the logic and reason of modern society. Instead, they made art that didn't make sense on purpose. They used nonsense, irrationality, and protests against rich people. At first, they did performances, but later they made all kinds of art like pictures, writing, and even sounds. They used techniques like collage, sound poems, and weird sculptures. Dada artists were against violence, war, and nationalism. They also supported left-wing politics, which are more radical and far from the center. The movement doesn't have a clear origin story. One story says a German artist, Richard Huelsenbeck, randomly picked the word from a dictionary using a paper knife. Another story credits Tristan Tzara with inventing it during a meeting in Zurich. Some people think the word sounds like a child's first words, fitting with the movement's playful and absurd style. Others believe it was chosen because it doesn't have a specific meaning in any language, showing the movement's global nature.

Avant Guard movement

Avant-garde in art and literature means creating new and experimental works that challenge traditional ideas. It's like artists leading the way into uncharted territory, breaking from the usual norms. These forward-thinking artists might not be immediately accepted by mainstream art, but they pave the way for new styles like anti-novel and Surrealism.

Avant-garde artists aim for big changes in politics and society through their art. Back in 1825, Benjamin Olinde Rodrigues wrote an essay saying artists should lead the way in making society better, using art as a powerful tool for quick and direct changes in things like politics and economics.

In the cultural world, avant-garde artists try new things that challenge what society sees as normal. From the late 1800s to the early 1900s, artists in various fields like poetry, fiction, drama, painting, music, and architecture experimented with modernism, breaking rules and trying new ideas. This started with Dada in the 1910s and continued with groups like the Situationist International in the late 1950s to early 1970s, and later with the American Language poets in the postmodern era.

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References 

Thomson, Jonny. “A canvas of nonsense: how Dada reflects a world gone mad through art.” Big Think, 21 April 2021, https://bigthink.com/high-culture/nonsense-dada-world-mad-art/#Echobox=1644655019. Accessed 23 February 2024.