Field Journal

Chapter 13 talks about Dada and Surrealism. Dadaists raised up the “anti-art”, which is shock, protest, and nonsense. Surrealism is built on Dada. Surrealists overthrow the standard of real, and present the art beyond real. They are just like a group of naughty boys, parodying the masterpieces in art museum. Yes, they really did.

The upper image is drawn by Magritte. The textbook introduces René François-Ghislain Magritte as a surrealist. He showed audiences the funny world beyond reality. Within Magritte’s world, nothing is impossible. When you look at the upper image, you might not know what the funny point is. You would smile only if you have seen the lower image.

Haha, Magritte is such a naughty boy! Beyond being naughty, he actually present a deep meaning, which is “Classic art is dead.” While think about it deeply, you may find out it is exactly the meaning of “anti-art” or “Dada”. The artists in the past always wanted to draw things as real as they could. Yet, the ideas within the drawings are usually boring and meaningless, like a lying lady, or just a load of people. Those artists presented their great skills, but nothing more than skills. Nevertheless, then the artists of “anti-art” say “Hey! Let’s make things interesting!”

Marcel Duchamp daubed on the Mona Lisa of Leonardo da Vinci, and made a funny face. Same as Duchamp, Fernando Botero make Mona Lisa gain some weight too. Who says that Mona Lisa has to be a lady. Mona Lisa could be a man or a overweight lady in the world of art. How dare they are!

This was a brand new idea in art. Designers before Dada used to think classic paintings are sacred, holy and inviolable, so they never across the borders. Currently, with the root of Dada, designers break the laws again and again. As a designer, I always want to be a naughty boy, think something people never think, do something people never do. Hopefully, all of the designers could be naughty forever.

Image

1. René François-Ghislain Magritte, Perspective: Madame Récamier de David, 1950, The Saatchi Collection

2. Jacques-Louis David, Ritratto di Madame Récamier, 1800, Parigi, Louvre

3. Leonardo da Vinci, Monna Lisa (La Gioconda), Musée du Louvre, Paris

4. Marcel Duchamp, LHOOQ, 1919

5. Fernando Botero Angulo, Mona-Lisa, 1977