dada and tzara

DADA was an international movement originating out of Zurich, Switzerland that reached its peak during 1916-1920. It was mostly a reactionary movement against the horrors of World War I. Tristan Tzara was one important figure who laid the foundations for the DADAist movement. Born in 1896, he grew up to become most famous for his manifestos which were some of the first Dadaists texts including "The First Heavenly Adventure of Mr. Antipyrine", "Twenty-Five Poems", and "Seven DADA Manifestos". His philosophy is known for embracing contradiction and chaos and being against conformity and logic. Along with André Breton, Philippe Soupault, and Louis Aragon, Tzara performed pieces to shock the public. He was also a poet. He had an intense energy that was crucial to the success (or failure) of the DADAist movement which meant to destroy the values of the current culture. Tzara explains in "DADA Manifesto on Feeble Love and Bitter Love" that, "DADA is not a doctrine to be put into practice: Dada - is for lying: a successful business. Dada gets into debt and doesn't live on its well-filled wallet." In 1930, perhaps tired of his own pessimistic and nihilistic outlooks, he joined the much lighter Surrealist movement. Later he joined the Communist Party and then the French Resistance during World War II. Tzara passed away in 1963.


Information retrieved Nov. 5th 2007.

http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/dada/Tristan-Tzara.html

http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9074038/Tristan-Tzara

http://www.famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/tristan_tzara