Surrealism and Dadaism both go toward abstraction and returns to representational forms of art.
Surrealism and Dadaism are fundamentally juxtaposed, yet in all its dichotomy, inextricably linked.
| Surrealism | Dadaism |
| Surrealism creates new art | Dadaism is fundamentally anti-art |
| Has a sense of aesthetics | Conceptual and goes against traditional schools of aesthetics and style |
| Focusing much on painting | Works across almost all genres |
| Brings out Freudian theory: works on the subconscious and dreams; actualizes and interprets it | Political response to challenge existing authority |
As I am someone who has an almost anarchist curiosity about delving into and questioning the status quo and current politics, I was very drawn towards Dadaist ideals. However, I felt that it was ingenuine to merely ape the Style of Dadaism in my work, as Dadaism is not a visual style, but an expressive style of ideas. The entire Dada concept was to overthrow restrictive boundaries of artistic styles which limit free expression, and thusly it felt awkward to be placed in another box should I attempt to copy the Dadaism style.
However, I still did some research and inspiration to gain more insight into how I should use certain visual techniques to aid my artistic presentation. Stylistically, I was inspired by my research on Theo van Doesberg. He is associated with the Dadaism movement, using clean lines and curves direct the viewer’s eye, creating a sense of elegant movement and direction.
This style is very effective in guiding the viewer’s eye to certain highlights of the image, allowing them to traverse the entire image without stopping awkwardly, creating the visual flow. This can reflect the entire flow of capitalist ideology, which presents itself so unctuous that it is easily spooned down the masses’ throats and accepted as the status quo.
I decided to focus on the theme of capitalist ideology in my art pieces, using the lens of Dadaism to guide me to convey insight and critique on the system, hoping to de-stabilise it and subvert it through my works.
