Definition

1. Noun:
   • An early 20th-century avant-garde art movement: Dadaism was a cultural and artistic movement that began in Zurich, Switzerland, around 1916. It was characterized by a rejection of logic, reason, and the aesthetic standards of capitalist society, which its followers believed had led to the horrors of World War I. Instead, Dadaism embraced nonsense, irrationality, and anti-art gestures.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:
  • The exhibition explores the influence of Dadaism on contemporary graphic design.
  • Artists associated with Dadaism often used collage, photomontage, and found objects in their work.
  • Dadaism was more than an art style; it was a protest against the prevailing social and political order.

Advanced Usage

• "the spirit of Dadaism": Refers to the underlying principles of irrationality, chance, and anti-establishment critique that defined the movement.
  • His performance art captures the anarchic spirit of Dadaism.
• As a descriptor: Used adjectivally to describe works, techniques, or attitudes reminiscent of the movement.
  • The poet's Dadaist use of random newspaper clippings created surprising new meanings.

Variants and Related Words

• Dada (n): A common shorter name for Dadaism.
  • The Cabaret Voltaire was the birthplace of Dada.
• Dadaist (n/adj): A person who creates art in the style of Dadaism, or an adjective describing such art or ideas.
  • Marcel Duchamp was a leading Dadaist. (noun)
  • It was a Dadaist gesture to exhibit a urinal as art. (adjective)

Synonyms

• Anti-art: A term closely associated with Dadaism, describing works intended to challenge the very definition of art.
• Avant-garde: Referring to new and experimental ideas, especially in the arts.

Related Idioms

• "To pull a Dadaist stunt": To perform an act that is deliberately absurd, provocative, or nonsensical, in the style of the Dadaists.
  • By reading random words from a hat, the speaker pulled a Dadaist stunt that confused the audience.

Noun

1. a nihilistic art movement (especially in painting) that flourished in Europe early in the 20th century; based on irrationality and negation of the accepted laws of beauty