Background
World War I was the first modern war and it’s brutality shocked the globe. New weapons such as flamethrowers, tanks, aircraft carriers, chemical weapons, and trench warfare turned the battlegrounds of Europe into a four year bloodbath (World War I). During this time, more than 9 million soldiers were killed with another 21 million wounded (World War I). This horrible carnage brought about a revolution in the art world where artists, who had witnessed the destruction, rebelled against authority and tradition to create an entirely new art form, known as Dada.
Creativity Unchained
In the above paintings and sculpture, there is a sense of unbridled rebellion and seething unrest in the artistic community regarding authority and tradition. Dada itself was so anti-centralist that members of Dada would state that, “Dada is anti-Dada” (Dada). This revolutionary spirit was sparked as an intense reaction against the prevailing ultra nationalistic spirit, which ran rampant throughout this period (Dada). According to the French Dada artist Jean Hans Arp, Dada was “to destroy the hoaxes of reason and to discover an unreasoned order” (MoMA). This “unreasoned order” is seen very clearly in Dada artwork such as Jean Hans Arp’s own piece, Squares Arranged According to The Laws of Chance, which is about as unplanned as a piece of art work can get. Additionally, the Dada artist Marcell Duchamp purposely defiled Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece, the Mona Lisa, in order attack the established order. This sums up Dada as a movement as it was very reactionary and was influenced directly by World War I as the war brought about such a shock to Western civilization that the very fabric of our society was seen to be torn. According to the curator of the Pompidou Center, Laurent Le Bon, “Without World War I there is no Dada. But there’s a French saying, ‘Dada explains the war more than the war explains Dada'” (Trachtman). Additionally, as the war rolled over Europe, the poet Tristan Tzara stated that “The beginnings of Dada were not the beginnings of art, but of disgust” (MoMA).
Reactions
Personally, I am not a fan of Dada or the movement against traditional art forms; however, I can see why these artists were driven to react so violently against the old hierarchy of artistic style. With this war, all of the advancements of the early 20th century were brought to bear on humanity. As this was the first modern war, nothing had prepared the world for the incredible damage and terror that our advancing technology could inflict upon the battlefield. With thousands of soldiers slaughtered over one to two meter advances along the vast trenches of Europe, these artists were so disillusioned with Western culture and the vast devastation that nationalism was causing that they utterly rejected it. This being said, I am a big fan of Leonardo da Vinci and the Mona Lisa and drawing a mustache and goatee on this painting, and calling it art, is simply going too far for my taste.
Sources:
“Dada.” MoMA Learning. Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2016. http://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/themes/dada
“Dada.” The Art Story, Modern Art Insight. The Art Story Foundation. n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2016. http://www.theartstory.org/movement-dada.htm#resources_header
Trachtman, Paul. “A Brief History of Dada.” Smithsonian Magazine. May 2016. Web. 26 Mar. 2016. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/dada-115169154/?no-ist
“World War I History.” History.com. A+E Networks. 2009. Web. 27 Mar. 2016. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/world-war-i-history
“Torso, Navel, Mustache-Flower.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art. n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2016. http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/490175
jbeedleuaf 
Interesting post. I feel like I’ve learned a lot about Dada art. I agree with you in the sense that Dada art is not something I would enjoy personally, but in the context with these other artists I can understand what drove them to create such a piece. Not knowing the background behind all these pieces, I would think it’s crap. I think it’s over-simplistic and a little boring. To wrap up the post, I think it would have been nice to have a contrasting piece or a piece you really liked–just so the readers could pin point physical features of each piece as to why you disliked it.
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I have found that I am also not a huge fan of Dada art. I can appreciate the meaning that was put into each and every piece as well as the symbolism, but I felt like there could have been more to the art. I can see how World War I and all that the War encompassed would spark a movement that let artists express their rebellion. I found that the Dada movement was not focused on the art, rather the pieces created during that time were more focused on protesting what was going on (Artyfactory.org, year unknown). After learning that those artists involved with Dadaism were protesting, I still think that the artists could have put more into the art and made the meaning behind each piece even stronger.
http://www.artyfactory.org/art_appreciation/art_movements/dadaism.htm
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