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Abstract

Moholy-Nagy first encountered Dada techniques in the work of Kurt Schwitters at Der Sturm Gallery in April 1920. Puzzled, and therefore challenged by this body of work, he entered the ambient of the Malik-Verlag, Erwin Piscator’s theatre, and the Berlin Dadaists, forming friendships with Hannah Höch and Raoul Hausmann, as well as, eventually with Schwitters himself, and adopting their collage techniques in earnest. Early in 1921, in tandem with his fellow Hungarian Activists, Moholy-Nagy’s art emerged from a period of eclectic experimentation into full-blown Mechano-Dada. But this was also the time when he deepened his engagement with the Biocentrism of the German Youth Movement he encountered through Lucia Schulz, an earnest type of proto-environmentalist worldview seemingly at odds with the political and satirical tendencies of Berlin Dada (Dáda, using Schwitters’ terminology). Instead, he passed through a playful, Dada-inflected phase in his art thematizing technology in nature (“Dadá” in Schwitters’ terms), and this work was championed by Lajos Kassák on the pages of Ma. Moholy-Nagy forged a unique brand of Dada art that resulted in an important series of Mechano-Dada paintings and works on paper – until he encountered Russian Constructivism in early fall, 1921, engendering a decisive turn in his practice, one that would determine the course of his subsequent career.

In: Cannibalizing the Canon
This rich, in-depth exploration of Dada’s roots in East-Central Europe is a vital addition to existing research on Dada and the avant-garde. Through deeply researched case studies and employing novel theoretical approaches, the volume rewrites the history of Dada as a story of cultural and political hybridity, border-crossings, transitions, and transgressions, across political, class and gender lines. Dismantling prevailing notions of Dada as a “Western” movement, the contributors to this volume present East-Central Europe as the locus of Dada activity and techniques. The articles explore how artists from the region pre-figured Dada as well as actively “cannibalized”, that is, reabsorbed and further hybridized, a range of avant-garde techniques, thus challenging “Western” cultural hegemony.
In: Cannibalizing the Canon
In: Cannibalizing the Canon
In: Cannibalizing the Canon
In: Cannibalizing the Canon
In: Cannibalizing the Canon
In: Cannibalizing the Canon