This essay will compare the characteristics, style, and social conditions of the Dada and Pop Art movements in order to explore their relationship. It will examine the similarities and differences between the two movements, as well as explain why Pop Art did not continue with the Dada tradition even though both movements used everyday objects as subjects for their art. Additionally, the essay will demonstrate how Pop Art remains relevant in today’s art world.
A1.
The Dada or Daism art movement emerged during World War I and spanned from 1916 to 1923. It was an informal international movement that attracted artists and followers from Europe and North America. The movement emerged as a response to the war and as a protest against the conventional middle-class, who the artists believed were responsible for the war. Dada rejected reason and logic, celebrating nonsense, irrationality, irony, and humor. It encompassed various forms of art, including visual arts, literature, poetry, manifestoes, art theory, theatre, and graphic design. Unlike traditional art focused on aesthetics, Dada aimed to provoke by offensive and shocking ideas. (“Pop art/dada”, 2013)
Dada artists developed various techniques including collage, photomontage, assemblage, and readymade. The collage technique involved pasting cut pieces of paper items like transportation tickets, maps, and plastic wrappers to depict aspects of life rather than still life, inspired by cubism. Photomontage utilized scissors and glue instead of paintbrushes and paints to express modern life through media images. Assemblage was a three-dimensional version of collage, using everyday objects to create meaningful or meaningless (related to the war) artwork. Lastly, readymades were everyday objects that artists found or purchased and declared as art. Some readymades had titles and the artist’s signature to provoke deeper thoughts in viewers. Dadaist art had no predominant medium during this period. (“Dada”, 2013)
A2.
Pop Art, also known as Popular Art, emerged in England in the early 1950s and in the United States in the late 1950s, lasting until the early 1970s. The origins of Pop Art differed between these two countries. In the United States, it arose as a response to an impersonal and mundane reality, incorporating irony and parody. In Britain, post-World War II served as its origin, with a focus on irony, parody, and American popular culture imagery. The artists viewed Pop Art as a rebellion against abstract expressionism, which was perceived as catering to a greedy middle class. They sought to convey the optimism felt after the poverty experienced during World War II. (“Pop art-”, 2013)
Pop Art originated in the urban environments of London and New York, utilizing familiar images from advertising, labels, comic books, and other cultural objects in order to convey conceptual formal relationships. Common mass production items, such as beer bottles, soup cans, comic strips, road signs, collages, and sculptures, were also duplicated by artists who incorporated them into their works. The use of vibrant colors and flat images was common in Pop Art, which blends symbolism with realism. Unlike traditional still life motifs that focused on the formal aspects of a painting while disregarding the subject matter, Pop Art engages the viewer with non-traditional subjects. (“Pop art-“, 2013)
A3a.
Dada and Pop Art emerged as a response to the prevailing norms, challenging the established art of their eras. Both movements sought to challenge the notion that traditional artists served the interests of the elites and powerful figures. Consequently, their works aimed to defy conventional aesthetics. Utilizing everyday objects, Dadaism and Pop Art created art that was symbolic, realistic, and descriptive, often employing unconventional motifs. By using their respective movements as vehicles for criticism, Dadaism and Pop Art provided commentary on the societies they belonged to. Additionally, both movements were partly influenced by significant wars.
A3b.
Pop Art evolved from Dadaism, exploring similar themes but with a different approach. While Dadaism showcased a biting, ironic, and rebellious attitude, Pop Art embraced popular culture. Artists in the Pop Art movement aimed to convey their optimism towards a society shaped by post-World War II consumerism, influenced by mass media advertisements. Instead of criticizing consumerism, Pop Art acknowledged it as a characteristic of the era.
A3b1.
Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain, created in 1917, is a well-known ‘readymade’ artwork associated with the Dada movement. It is considered one of the most recognized modernist works from this movement. Duchamp transformed a commonplace object of daily life, altering its intended purpose by giving it a different name. Through this act, Duchamp presented a fresh perspective on the urinal and highlighted the idea that art could be focused on concepts rather than physical objects. This notion would resonate with future generations of artists. (Pop art/dada, 2013)
In 1962, Andy Warhol painted his series Campbell’s Soup Cans, consisting of 32 individual canvases depicting various flavors of soup available at the time. The reason behind Warhol’s choice to paint these soup cans remains unclear as his typical response during interviews was simply that he consumed soup daily. Pop Art often involved creating artworks using recognizable and popular objects that resonated with a wide audience. Similar to Duchamp’s Fountain, the concept behind the artworks was more crucial than the visual representation itself. Both artists embraced an anti-art approach, utilizing common objects as subject matter, captivating viewers’ attention with the underlying ideas rather than the objects themselves. (“Campbell’s soup cans”, 2013)
A3b2.
Pop Art derives directly from Dadaism as it ridicules the art world by using everyday motifs as subjects for creating artworks. Dadaists developed an illogical approach to images with the intention of provoking reactions from the public. Pop artists followed a similar visual method, but focused on popular culture. The Pop Art movement replaced the negative, satirical, and radical aspects of the Dada movement. Dadaists emphasized anti-war politics and rejected conventional art standards by creating anti-art cultural works. (“Pop art”, 2013) A3c.
The Pop Art movement that emerged in the 1950s had a significant impact on both the wealthy and culture as a whole. Its motivations were so iconic and profound that its artwork continues to be admired, studied, and created to this day. It is clear that Pop Art was more than just a passing trend; it remains popular and successful. The unique characteristics of Pop Art, such as dotted images, vibrant colors, series of images on one print, depictions of famous individuals, and representations of everyday objects can still be seen in various forms of art today. Pop Art can be observed in print design on items like birthday cards, T-shirts, calendars, canvases, posters, and contemporary graphic design (The influence of, 2010).
