ABSTRACT
While the seeds of the Dada movement had been planted in the years before the war – shaped by the futurists as well as independent artists – the opening of the Cabaret Voltaire in February 1916 is considered the official beginning of the Dada movement. Both the Dada and psychoanalytic movements were inescapably influenced by the atrocities of World War I. Hulsenbeck, in his En avant Dada, reported that the Dadaists agreed the reasons for the war were materialistic and contrived. Dada questioned society’s accepted values and consensus worldview, challenging the status quo while embracing new ways of thinking, utilizing new materials and methods. Part of Dada’s radical achievement lay in its ability to create a global network of artists and intellectuals, especially during such a tumultuous time in world history. In fact, this is an under-recognized and invaluable accomplishment of both the Dada and psychoanalytic movements.
