DaDa

Dada at the Cabaret Voltaire from DERTV on Vimeo.

Dada was a movement to liberate art. The 'movement' was based around 1916 and ended soon later in 1924; which

Dadaism Notes 1

Anti Establishment movement - Zurich - Cabaret Voltaire

Cubist witchdoctor outfit which Ball wore when he went into a trance during a chanting sound performance.

During the war (WWI) 1,000,000 people died, which had a huge impact on the world at the time. The main impact was that, every country had some form of war going on, except for the two neutral countries; USA & Switzerland.
At that time, Hugo Ball and Emmy Hemmings, decided to open a expressional art bar in Zurich. They rented a vacant room with the promise that the new vacancy would have more opportunity for the landlord to sell more sausages and beers due to the amount of people who'd come. However, things didn't go to plan towards the end (but I will come to that later.) The bar they had opened was named Cabaret Voltaire and was the birth of Dadaism.
Here are the profiles of the primary input of the Cabaret Voltaire:

Hugo Ball

• Germany
• Poet, performer, creator of the Cabaret Voltaire

Emmy Hennings

• Germany
• Regular performances at Cabaret Voltaire; also a poet

Sammy Rosensock

• Aged 19
• Poet from Romania/France

Sophie Taeuber-Arp

• Aged 20's
• Dancer, puppeteer, poet from Switzerland

The nightly performances became pure angst and it instantly became a problem because people would be very angry and leave.
The word dada was found by inserting a knife into a dictionary which they put their finger onto a random word; which resulted in the word Dada.
Dada means lots of different words around the world -
Yes yes in Russian
Hobby horse in French
and many more things in different languages also.

"Everything and nothing in the same breath."
Because Dada means a lot in a lot of languages, the above quote is quoted by Hugo Ball.

Marcel Yonko made some masks for people who chanted and rythmed a tune; somewhat african influenced, which people were not impressed.

"The word and the image are known"
Hugo Ball.

Words had seized to mean anything, corrupted by politicians. Ball decided the only way was through sound. (SOUND POETRY.)

First week back - Detail

The idea of this as a starting point, was that we could create something that has been there unnoticed for a very long time. We were doing this with the second years, which helped us connect with them a little, too. The paint splatters are all different and unique around the entire building, which helped me decide I would want to look at those because you could get all kind of shapes and exciting looking ideals from them. Splatters in general generate lots of different shapes in which help when you're looking at an object or detail for inspiration through shape. A little like star gazing.

I liked the shape of the end of the nail, because to get it in or out you have to interact it with another object. This being said, I decided to use that as a comfortable basis for an interactive piece. The same idea came with the palm of your hand. Hands are all unique with no two lines being exactly the same, which i think is quite interesting. You don't typically look at your lines and there's always a line or a dot or a pattern on your hand that you have never noticed or seen before. Also, keeping the theme of interactive art, this inspired me a little more because the palm of the hand is highly interactive and you use your hands for essentially everything in life.

As a group activity, we all decided that it would be a good idea to make something interactive. This was an idea that left us with an entire room full of string. Because everybody (almost everybody) had gone through the string or put the string up/tied it together/added too it, it had become a very interactive piece of art and somewhat everybody's work also. This is a lot like Cordelia Parker's work because she typically reflects shadow onto other people in the room. That makes everybody a part of the art work, just like ours did. There was no getting around the room without either snapping a bit of the string or crawling around it.

As a general idea, I decided to carry out a series of events. To do this, I picked a somewhat subject matter for the idea. With that in mind, I decided to use a piece of paper, poke a hole straight through and then shine a light through it. Because I found that, even though not a permanent detail, it would create a little shape that you have never seen before. That gave me an idea, to cut a shape in a piece of paper and reflect the light through.

A a general rule, to create a shape via shadow, it has to be mildly dark enough so you can see said shape. The shape never has to be perfectly cut, because once reflected you can't see the detail on the paper! The paper was a difficult one, because I only used cartridge paper which isn't very secure or sturdy; so I decided I would put masking tape on it so that it made it a little stronger and wouldn't distort the image. To make is a more permanent fixture, I tied some string on either side and hung it on the wall, so that you could try from different angles, freely, and try from close-to-far and see what the experiment gave off. 

By getting closer to the shape, you was left with a pleasant shape, all fit into frame. The further away you got, the image got closer. To apply that to my art work, I figured that I could somewhat make it interactive by reflect the shadow onto other people - much like a disco ball or a children's night light - and make them a part of the art work. This reminded me of Cold Dark Matter by Cordelia Parker.

With all of the above in mind, I tried out another idea. I wanted to create something that would interact with everybody in the room! I thought of the children lamps where they reflect animals or clouds onto the ceiling - but sadly my first attempt failed miserable. The over-all structure was weak and wouldn't hold the initial construct. The shapes were too intricate and were too close together, which left me with a brain ache. However - I had the idea of a different structure. Something more sturdy, with maybe too ends closed off so that the light would stay focused on the actual designs that were intended to be reflected.

But sadly, that also didn't work. The design was sturdy, granted; but no matter how many times I tried it, it just didn't work. The main conclusion was that my light wasn't strong enough and because it was on my phone, it just didn't work out. The design was poor and could have done with a lot more work. The idea may work better if I could use a rounded light, much like a light bulb and a bit like a disco ball. 

I decided I would just illustrate what I had just done and see how it would look if it would have looked a little better, too. I put a glow around the illustration to show that it would by theory light everywhere because there would be placings to show that, but in reality it just didn't work. Oh well, sometimes shit doesn't work out and that's ok.

First week back - Detail

The idea of this as a starting point, was that we could create something that has been there unnoticed for a very long time. We were doing this with the second years, which helped us connect with them a little, too. The paint splatters are all different and unique around the entire building, which helped me decide I would want to look at those because you could get all kind of shapes and exciting looking ideals from them. Splatters in general generate lots of different shapes in which help when you're looking at an object or detail for inspiration through shape. A little like star gazing.

I liked the shape of the end of the nail, because to get it in or out you have to interact it with another object. This being said, I decided to use that as a comfortable basis for an interactive piece. The same idea came with the palm of your hand. Hands are all unique with no two lines being exactly the same, which i think is quite interesting. You don't typically look at your lines and there's always a line or a dot or a pattern on your hand that you have never noticed or seen before. Also, keeping the theme of interactive art, this inspired me a little more because the palm of the hand is highly interactive and you use your hands for essentially everything in life.

As a group activity, we all decided that it would be a good idea to make something interactive. This was an idea that left us with an entire room full of string. Because everybody (almost everybody) had gone through the string or put the string up/tied it together/added too it, it had become a very interactive piece of art and somewhat everybody's work also. This is a lot like Cordelia Parker's work because she typically reflects shadow onto other people in the room. That makes everybody a part of the art work, just like ours did. There was no getting around the room without either snapping a bit of the string or crawling around it.

As a general idea, I decided to carry out a series of events. To do this, I picked a somewhat subject matter for the idea. With that in mind, I decided to use a piece of paper, poke a hole straight through and then shine a light through it. Because I found that, even though not a permanent detail, it would create a little shape that you have never seen before. That gave me an idea, to cut a shape in a piece of paper and reflect the light through.

A a general rule, to create a shape via shadow, it has to be mildly dark enough so you can see said shape. The shape never has to be perfectly cut, because once reflected you can't see the detail on the paper! The paper was a difficult one, because I only used cartridge paper which isn't very secure or sturdy; so I decided I would put masking tape on it so that it made it a little stronger and wouldn't distort the image. To make is a more permanent fixture, I tied some string on either side and hung it on the wall, so that you could try from different angles, freely, and try from close-to-far and see what the experiment gave off. 

By getting closer to the shape, you was left with a pleasant shape, all fit into frame. The further away you got, the image got closer. To apply that to my art work, I figured that I could somewhat make it interactive by reflect the shadow onto other people - much like a disco ball or a children's night light - and make them a part of the art work. This reminded me of Cold Dark Matter by Cordelia Parker.

With all of the above in mind, I tried out another idea. I wanted to create something that would interact with everybody in the room! I thought of the children lamps where they reflect animals or clouds onto the ceiling - but sadly my first attempt failed miserable. The over-all structure was weak and wouldn't hold the initial construct. The shapes were too intricate and were too close together, which left me with a brain ache. However - I had the idea of a different structure. Something more sturdy, with maybe too ends closed off so that the light would stay focused on the actual designs that were intended to be reflected.

But sadly, that also didn't work. The design was sturdy, granted; but no matter how many times I tried it, it just didn't work. The main conclusion was that my light wasn't strong enough and because it was on my phone, it just didn't work out. The design was poor and could have done with a lot more work. The idea may work better if I could use a rounded light, much like a light bulb and a bit like a disco ball. 

I decided I would just illustrate what I had just done and see how it would look if it would have looked a little better, too. I put a glow around the illustration to show that it would by theory light everywhere because there would be placings to show that, but in reality it just didn't work. Oh well, sometimes shit doesn't work out and that's ok.

Bit's and bobs from over the summer.

Sheffield station, one summery day. The best part of sheffield station is that, despite it being relatively large, the whole atmosphere is primarily created by the light at both end of the track. Unlike a lot of stations in cities, where the main train lines are hopped onto from inside, you are still outside when you're in sheffield station. The day was very beautiful - it was around 17 degrees, which for me, I consider perfect. The ground was damp from the previous nightly downfall of rain and the shadows from every direction from the above lit sky, made the whole composition feel almost conspicuous. I left the over-all image primarily raw; however I dropped the shadow by, somewhere around, -4 and added a little more highlight (around +3/4). I did raise the saturation a little, to add a little more emphasis on how beautiful of a day it was because phone camera's tend to dull the whole colouration down a little.

Antique books in the hostel I stayed over in. They had a little room named 'the book swap' where you could chill in complete happiness and swap books with strangers. Unfortunately, I didn't bring any books with me that I'd finished (and I just can't part with "This Modern Love" by Will Derbyshire.) The books were wrecked, but they held so much love. The only editing I did for this photo was heighten the exposure and drop the shadow around -2. I wanted to keep it the way I could see in person to really capture a happy memory.

Bright, blooming plants in winter gardens. For this one, I did a little editing on snapseed. I couldn't resist exploring what I could do with the saturation. I also added a filter, that literally heightened the saturation and added (what I can only assume) and heightened colour highlight also. The over-all image looks so happy to me. It creates such a positive ora for itself.

Another one from the hostel I stayed in. Beautiful antique window they have kept from the original building. The most interesting concept about the hostel, was that it was once an all boys work house; you really felt like you was stepping into a surreal, taste of the past since they kept any part they could. I took this photo whilst awaiting my key; the light was shining in from the door and the window, leaving only the window at an advantage of being bright amongst the very dark open space. I only edited the photo slightly, by brightening the centre to give a better idea of the beauty within the window detailing - I darkened the shadow until it was around -15 and kept the original 'filter' raw. I did add a slight touch (around +3) of fade and around +2 of grain to sharpen the image up.

In the summer, I visited Liverpool. Although I'm not a huge fan of Liverpool, the locks were absolutely incredible as the sun was coming down. This is literally the photo untouched - I couldn't edit it without ruining it's natural beauty. The boats situated on the left, so comfortably that it compliments the sky and I adore how the water is rippling. The sky looks as if it's on fire but meeting water - which could only leave an absolute air head like myself; in a complete day dream.

Here's my cats. Both have a filter on, one that auto edits the shadow and highlight. I added grain onto the photo's, because I find it compliments a dark image and creates a more raw, somewhat candid composition and feel. The bottom, Teddy, has a little +3/4 on saturation because her image was slightly blurry and without it, I felt as if it just wasn't overly appealing. The above image, Clive, was him laid asleep so naturally on me. I barely edited that image at all, maybe a little shadow drop here and there.

Another random section of Sheffield. This place you legitimately wander through a forest and I'm a massive fan of forests (like seriously.) and this was an opportunity I couldn't miss! The colour saturation and sharpness was edited but other than that, there really was no need to add any other effect! So unconditionally beautiful without any actual editing. Aw!

Back to the hostel, you got free tea and coffee any time of the day. I tried to capture the tea and coffee on it's round platter, relatively central to the composition. I can't look at without thinking about how unbelievably tumblr it is, but I kinda love it for that. I lowered the white's and heightened the rest of the colouration. The shadow was dropped, and I adore it so much!

A video posted by Abbey Marks (@fyiabbey) on Jun 30, 2016 at 8:20pm PDT

Sophie Harris Taylor

Taylor typically uses light as a way to capture her photos; natural light that is. They come across very raw, despite them being edited and definitely lowered in saturation (assumedly.) The above image I found really interesting. I love the way that the figure is almost completely blacked out; somewhat caught in a moment of complete hopelessness or it could be the complete opposite and they could be completely satisfied and having a moment to settle the overwhelming feel of being comfortable for a change. That's what I like about Taylors work most; that it keeps you guessing. The centre point is the focal point; that's the first thing you see when you look into the image. However, I do think that if she brightened the behind window, maybe it would make it even more interesting (but that could wash it out and make it an absolute shamble.)

The leaves or are they trees? This one completely interests me because it shows depth and I still can't figure out if it's trees from a height of if it's some foliage from a garden/street somewhere. Although, my conclusion is that it's the foliage option; again it's keeping the Taylor question game coming. The colours have been desaturated again, which I find truly lovely. I don't like, however, that it feels like it has a complete filter over the top of it; like you have something on your glasses. I think it may be intentionally faded as appose to it having a complete filter over the top, but I'm personally not a fan of that.

This is beautiful. It feel ultimately minimalist; which is very interesting since most imagery of bathrooms seem to be over edited and highly saturated. I think I'm probably more drawn to it because I am a person lover of everything being dark and high in shadow. She's kept it central again, where the main lit area is directly where your eyes go (in the centre) and the bath being the ultimate focal point due to it being the brightest part of the image.

Another bathroom photos, but I see this one completely different. This one has more atmosphere and seems to be a lot less flat than the above one. This one is darker in shadow and has a much higher highlight; which I completely adore. However, I'd have bought down the brightness on the towel (?) because I feel like that would have pulled the image together; but over-all I think it's such a great composition. The light is somewhat in 3 instalments - wall, central wall and window - which is where your eyes follow all the way across the image as appose to one section of the image.

This one is very Petra Collins x Keaton Henson - both my favourites. Maybe even a little Olivia Bee; just because they seem so raw and desaturated with a undertones highlight of pink which makes the images very warm. The actual object inside the image is a person, which makes you question whether or not that could be a friend of hers and maybe she has sentimental value to Taylor. The pictures give an almost romantic atmospheric feel due to the subtle, delicateness of the composition and how soft the over-all images look.