DADA at Moma

Daddy and Mommy... No. It's the recent Dadaism exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art.

I tried to focus on the films only, but still other stuff would catch my attention. Although this artistic movement is not my favorite, I can recall that the way the exhibition was put together was great. The Dada exhibit is divided by countries. Showing the paintings on the walls, the sculptures in the center of the galleries and the films on hanging screens in between rooms or inside a dark room. My favorite country was Germany. I am used to watching Dada from France, New York and Zurich, so it was enriching to check out Berlin. I bet many of the 80's post-punk crowd relates to this art...Specially when it comes to collage and propaganda.

The film that caught my eye and remained in my memory was The Ghost Before Breakfast by Hans Richter. Bomber hats flying, guys with suits climbing ladders, targets, guns, cut outs, lots of repetition, order and then chaos, positive and negative and movie magic of appear, disappear. I bet many of the music videos of the past decades have been influenced by Dada.

Go check it out before Sept.11