Cut with the Kitchen Knife Dada through the Last Weimar Beer Belly Cultural Epoch of Germany (1919) by Hannah Hoch
The Dada movement was many things, but it was essentially an anti-war movement in Europe and New York from 1915 to 1923. It was an artistic revolt and protest against traditional beliefs of a pro-war society, and also fought against sexism/racism to a lesser degree. The word "dada" was picked at random out of a dictionary, and is actually the French word for "hobbyhorse" - Art History archive.
The
German Dadaist, Hanna Hoch, is considered to be one of the main figures of the
Berlin Dada movement. In Berlin, the Dada movement focused on the medium of
photomontage, a collage of pictures and words, to express their political
views. Dada artists such as Johannes Baader, Otto Dix, George Grosz, Raoul
Hausmann, John Heartfield and Hannah Höch took a political tone to reflect
their negative views toward German nationalism in the struggling post-World War
I.
One
of Hoch’s most famous paintings, Cut with
the Kitchen Knife Dada through the Last Weimar Beer Belly Cultural Epoch of
Germany (1919), takes a stab at Weimar Germany. The great amount of imagery
in the photomontage creates a satirical look on Weimar society. Subjects
included in the work of art include “her Dada colleagues, Communist leaders,
dancers, sports figures, and Dada slogans in varying typefaces.” There are four
sections to this panorama, Dada Propaganda (upper left), Anti-Dadaists (upper
right, Dada Persuasion (bottom left), Dada World/ Dadaist (bottom right).
During
1917, Germany’s devastating war involved severe restrictions on daily life and
had created rampant inflation. Post-war Republic, Weimar Republic, had faced
many problems as well. The abundant of power that the constitution gave to the
President, the states, and the army, had created a very partisan government,
having a majority of extremist on both sides. Both sides wanted to overthrow the
government, and the worst crisis occurred in 1923, when the French tried to
force Germany to pay reparations. This
led to hyperinflation and a number of rebellions, particularly Hitler's Munich
Putsch.
One
of the people mentioned included in the photomontage was Kurt Tucholsky, a
German satirist of the twentieth century. During the Weimar years he produced
books, essays, newspaper columns, and lyrics for cabaret songs, and was a
constant critic of the Weimar Republic “believing that it had not made the
reforms necessary to make it a true democracy and a successful Republic.” As an
advocate for democracy, Tucholsky’s 3 main themes included aggressive military
mental tendency violence against left-wing politicians and sympathy from
judges to right-wing violators, and the corruption of democratic politicians to
defend their democracy. One poem in particular, which reflects his idea of a
democracy is a poem that first appeared in “die Weltbuehne” on March 4, 1930
The Free Economy
(1930)
By Kurt
Tucholsky
Abolish those
cursed tariffs
Trust your
company director.
Walk out of the
arbitration committees.
Leave everything
else to your boss.
No more union
talking their way in,
we want to be
free economists!
"Away with
groups" - on our banner!
Now, not you.
But us.
You don't need
rest homes for your lungs,
no retirement
and no insurances.
You should all
be ashamed of yourselves,
taking money
from the penniless State!
You should no
longer stand together.
Would you please
disperse yourselves!
No cartels in
our territory!
Not you.
But us.
We're building
into the farthest future
trusts, cartels,
associations, concerns.
We stand next to
the furnace flames
in syndicated
groups.
We dictate the
prices and the contracts -
no law will get
in our way.
We stand here
well organized...
Not you.
But us.
What you're
doing is Marxism. Down with it!
We're assuming
the power, step by step.
No one's
disturbing us. Complacently
the ruling
socialists stand by and watch.
We want you
individually. To arms!
That's the
newest economic theory!
The demand has
not been made
that a German
professor couldn't justify.
Working for our
ideas in the factories
are officers of
the old army,
the Steel
Helmets, the Hitler garde ...
You, in cellars
and attics,
Don't you see
what they're doing with you?
With whose sweat
the profit is gained?
No matter what
might come.
The day will
arrive,
when the crusading
worker calls:
"Not you.
But us. Us.
Us."
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