Dadaism and Pop Art are two art movements from the same century and were both developed in response to war, one in protest and the other celebrating the increase in consumerism after a war. One theme shared by both movements was mocking the established art world. (Pop art) Artists from both movements used images from the street, the mass media, the supermarket, ready-made items, and present them as art in itself. (Pop art)
Dada was an international movement starting in 1916 and ending in 1922 that started as a protest of WWI. Many artists were fed up and used their art as a forum to “spit on” nationalism and materialism, which they felt contributed to the war. Because of the war, many artists, especially French and German, found themselves in Zurich where refuge was offered which is where the origin of the movement can be traced to when Hugo Ball opened the Cabaret Voltaire in 1916. (Sniles) Within a few days the core of Dada movement was established with artists such as Emily Hennings, Jean Arp, Tristan Tzara, and Richard Haulsenbeck. (Sniles) There are a couple of theories of how the name Dada came to be with one being French poet Tristan Tzara thrust a knife into pages of a dictionary, randomly finding a name for the movement. (Dada) Officially, Dada was not a movement, the artists not artists, and the art not art and there was one basic rule: Never follow any known rules. (Esaak) As an early form of Shock Art, the artists used mild obscenities, visual puns, sarcasm, and everyday items as art. Assemblage, collage, photomontage and the use of ready-made objects all gained wide acceptance due to their use in Dada art. (Esaak) Dada is known for the “ready-made” art and using bright colors. This no rules theory of the movement worked until it started to become accepted, which caused the movement to die off.
A popular artist in America was Marcel