100 years of Dada

February 5, 2016 1:01 PM

On February 5, 1916, 100 years ago today, the Cabaret Voltaire opened in Zurich, Switzerland, marking the beginning of Dada. Happy birthday, Dada!

Classic "Ripley's Believe It or Not" video of Marie Osmond reciting Hugo Ball's 1916 sound poem Karawane. (Previously)

10 female Dadaists you should know

Dada Centenary events in Zurich

The Cabaret Voltaire is up for sale.

posted by larrybob (25 comments total)

Let me raise my fur teacup in celebration! Huzza
posted by ShawnString at 1:06 PM on February 5, 2016 [2 favorites]

It is always a good time to revisit the Marie Osmond Hugo Ball moment.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:08 PM on February 5, 2016 [7 favorites]

But where's pancakes?
posted by Wolfdog at 1:17 PM on February 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

I don't know how this is the first time I've ever heard of or seen that Marie Osmond video, but I'm so glad that it has finally happened on this momentous anniversary.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 1:18 PM on February 5, 2016 [5 favorites]

Nag, Nag, Nag. Da, Da, Da.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 1:21 PM on February 5, 2016 [3 favorites]

BROTHERS WE MUST DESTROY ART
posted by The Whelk at 1:28 PM on February 5, 2016 [3 favorites]

I shall make a birthday cake, using crushed pearls for flour, and icing made of albatross guano. And instead of candles... centipedes.
posted by Capt. Renault at 1:28 PM on February 5, 2016 [3 favorites]

Dada is the power behind MonoNeon so even if it had done nothing else, it would be great
posted by thelonius at 1:29 PM on February 5, 2016

The poster advertising the opening night (from the Archives Dada tumblr).
posted by misteraitch at 1:30 PM on February 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

Kwii ee!
posted by wanderingmind at 1:34 PM on February 5, 2016

I can't speak for every decade, but one of the more humility-inducing aspects of the cool-80s was how many of us knew who Cabaret Voltaire were without knowing what the Cabaret Voltaire was.
posted by philip-random at 1:34 PM on February 5, 2016 [10 favorites]

A hundred years? It seems like only yesterday that tomorrow was invented.
posted by lumpenprole at 1:37 PM on February 5, 2016 [8 favorites]

Thanks larrybob! I saw that "Karawane" clip in a bio of The Osmonds, but after some years I thought it was about Karen Carpenter, so I was constantly making futile web searches.
posted by King Sky Prawn at 1:41 PM on February 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

Dada Data - website about the centenary with link to live stream from Cabaret Voltaire.
posted by larrybob at 1:53 PM on February 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

ShawnString: "Let me raise my fur teacup in celebration! Huzza"

Cela ne veut pas une tasse de thé.
posted by Splunge at 1:56 PM on February 5, 2016 [2 favorites]

Here's the direct Cabaret Voltaire live stream video link, since the Dada Data site is rather Dada in its navigation. There is a performance at about 2:47 if you rewind the stream.
posted by larrybob at 2:41 PM on February 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

Sorry, Marie Osmond. Kurt Schwitters for the win.

wanderingmind's post above is another section of Ursonate
posted by crazylegs at 2:44 PM on February 5, 2016

Yes, let us all join together in a tune, for Kurt.
posted by benito.strauss at 2:54 PM on February 5, 2016

gadji beri bimba - i zimbra
posted by progosk at 3:23 PM on February 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

Came for the dada.




Pencils.

This one time. I was.

This one time.
posted by four panels at 3:36 PM on February 5, 2016 [2 favorites]

Viva dada!
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:41 PM on February 5, 2016

Well I must say, it's closer to 150 years since the introduction of boolean algebra, but I suppose all those 1's and 0's have only begun to pay off more recently, so I guess we can let the dates slide in the name of innovation.
posted by grog at 5:57 PM on February 5, 2016

The Onion's take on Dada has always been some of my favorites:

Hard To Tell If Wikipedia Entry On Dada Has Been Vandalized Or Not

Republicans, Dadaists Declare War On Art
posted by wcfields at 8:16 PM on February 5, 2016 [6 favorites]

All the clouds turn to words
All the words float in sequence
No one knows what they mean
Everyone just ignores them

[sung simultaneously]
Mau Mau starter ching ching da da
Daughter daughter dumpling data
Pack and pick the ping-pong starter
Carter Carter go get Carter
Perigeeeeeee
Open stick and delphic doldrums
Open click and quantum data.

Sky Saw
From the Eno album Another Green World
posted by onesidys at 9:11 PM on February 5, 2016 [4 favorites]

How do you achieve eternal bliss? By saying dada. How do you become famous? By saying dada. With noble attitude and fine deportment. Until you go crazy, until you pass out. How can you get rid of everything infernalish and journalish, everything nice and neat, everything priggish and brutish and foppish? By saying dada. Dada is the world soul, dada is the point, dada is the world’s best lily-milk soap.
posted by languagehat at 7:35 AM on February 6, 2016