Put your faith in DADA

I sure would -- especially in a WWI era with bombs flying all around -- what else could there possibly be to believe in besides the anti-authoritarian/anti-hierarchial impetus of this movement? Not only a literary/artistic movement, but also spanning the entirity of the culture -- demanding that art is all around us -- the sacred and the profane. Is it true.. can anybody be an artist? Is everything really art?



DADA supports the artist as genius -- reminds me of the "poet as God" phenomenon and the greek idea of poetic madness -- the place from where creation comes... DADA gives flavor where before the rice was bland.. DADA spices up everything, even the petty old ladies with their muesuems and tea.. just imagine:



"A manicure salon of fine arts characterized by tea drinking old ladies trying to revive thier vanishing sexual powers with the help of something mad" -- that something mad is DADA -- live and in charge as a urinal on the wall ... (DADA by Rudolf Kuenzli)



Why do we put our faith in DADA.. is it the "primeval strata untouched and not reached by logic" as the utterance of 'dada' from the baby's lips... or is DADA a name "which does not mean anything" hoping rather to "invalidate all meaning?" (17). The term having been sanctioned in 1916.. Ball empresses upon us that indeed DADA does mean something, internationally infact, it is 'hobbyhorse' in French and 'yes, yes' in Romanian! In his DADA manifesto of July 14th 1916 Ball tells us that DADA is indeed "the heart of words" (19).



So what can this "i-don't-give-a-damn" attitude do for you? I'll tell you in the words of "Invest in DADA" from an Anonymous Being in 1919 --



DADA... is the comfort in dying

"When you are dead, dada will be your only nourishment, even the ancient Egyptions fed their dead dada..."

"Dada is fertile and multiples. Only dada is the savior from misery and sorrow, Invest your money in dada"!



so take all those force fed religious convictions and simply replace the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.. with DADA!