While
Dada itself seems to be an entire art form based upon contradictions, while
reading Tzara’s manifestoes, certain selections stood out to me as particularly
paradoxical. For example, on page 77, Tzara writes, “Dada was born of a need
for independence, of a distrust towards unity. Those who are with us preserve
their freedom. We recognize no theory.” This presents to me an interesting
contradiction that, while seeming paradoxical on its own, makes sense when put
into context of the Dada movement.
The ideas
and system of artistic ideals attributed to Dada seem to directly contradict
Tzara’s assertion that Dada comes from a desire for independence. Tzara claims
no unity in the Dadaist movement. However, to a certain extent, we know this to
be false; Dada was a wide-spanning movement in both the visual and literary
arts all operating on similar principles. While differences in the different
artists within the movement may be great and a source of conflict, each
operated on the idea of the artist “creating a new world” and the condemnation
of the other art forms of the time such as cubism and modernism that are based
upon the artist’s mastery and perception of their own world. What Tzara seems to be saying is that Dada is not defined by the typical features of an artistic movement when, logically, it must.
When
applied socially and historically, this quote becomes somewhat more sensical. While,
together, the Dada artists may have formed a movement, they certainly must have
been moved to create their own "brand" of Dada by an aforementioned desire for independence. Historically, the different artists within the Dadaist movement
have preserved their freedom as Tzara claimed; definitions of “True Dada”
varied widely, and conflict between these ideals within the movement was
widespread, adding to the performance aspect of Dada mentioned within these
manifestoes. However, even with these points in mind, I would hesitate to say
that this quote is not contradictory.
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