Dada

As I’ve mentioned we are moving back in time through the modern movements. In addition to keeping a living timeline in our sketchbooks we are also looking for connections in the philosophies of each movement and their techniques. It has been incredibly rewarding to hear them making connections from pop art to surrealism. This week we explored DADA or Dadaism.

We looked at the mama of dada Beatrice Wood and focused on the elements texture and form. Some important things to consider when creating ceramic work.

 

Building off of last week we created some not quite automatic poetry inspired by the Dadaist Tristan Tzara:

• Take a newspaper.
• Take a pair of scissors.
• Choose an article as long as you are planning to make your poem.
• Cut out the article.
• Then cut out each of the words that make up this article and put them in a bag.
• Shake it gently.
• Then take out the scraps one after the other in the order in which they left the bag.
• Copy conscientiously.
• The poem will be like you.
• And here are you a writer, infinitely original and endowed with a sensibility that is charming though beyond the understanding of the vulgar.

 

We then looked at Duchamp and created our own ready-made art inspired by Duchamp’s Fountain.

It was quite a non-sensical week. DADA! Below are the final products that resulted from our week of dadaism. All of my students had the option to create a ready-made sculpture or a ceramic work, and all of them chose to return to ceramics.

 

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