National Association of Manufacturers meets Dada
February 20, 2006
[QUOTE]
Yesterday the first bloglady and the first blogteen dragged the blogger-in-chief to the National Gallery of Art in Washington for the opening of the exhibit on Dadaism, and interesting art and cultural movement that gripped Germany, France and even New York in the post-World War I era.
Like the first rule of Fight Club, the first principle of Dada was there were no principles. Easy enough, reminded us in fact of some politicians in Washington these days.
It was a genre steeped in cynicism, alienation and disaffection. (No wonder they found New York….). Said early dadaist Tristan Tzara, “The beginnings of Dada were not the beginnings of an art, but of a disgust.”
But we were most impressed to see how all roads lead to manufacturing.
As the Dada movement spread, French artist Marcel Duchamp made his way to New York City where he was like a missionary, spreading the word of Dada to new adherents and bohemians.
As it turns out, he pioneered a type of Dada art known as “readymade” where he took manufactured items and made them into pieces of art. As every manufacturer knows, all manufactured items are pieces of art, so this was no big deal.
We probably could’ve taught Duchamp a thing or two back in the day. Here’s link to one of his “readymade” works, and another.
Just a reminder that manufacturing is everywhere, even in the art world, even in the sometimes bizarre world of Dada.
Posted by Pat Cleary at 07:27 AM
[END QUOTE from NAM site.]
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{My comment posted at NAM National Association of Manufacturers web site}
Dada was started by Hugo Ball, and his diaries are like well written blog posts:
[BEGIN QUOTES by hugo ball, 1927, from his Dada Diaries]
“The false structure is collapsing. Move away as far as possible, into tradition, into strangeness, into the supernatural; then you will not get hit.” (p. 82)
“Anyone who potters [makes things: psycho ward baskets and ceramic ashtrays, sock monkeys, poems, video, blog networks, blog media groups, blog-to-book publishing, blog tee shirts, filthy mouthed blog tee shirts, blog addiction support circles, blog psychosis clinics, social media software, malware defense shields, blogs, blog history timelines, music CDs, music MP3s, podcasts, online forums, or digital artwork]…
…always has things [see above] ready to give away at any moment. That humanizes relationships, causing a return gift, conversation, and entertainment.” (p. 80)
“I propose a game. One person ready any sentences out of the leading periodicals, and the others have to guess the author.” (p. 78)
“Frank thinks one should work until one’s brain is damaged, until one falls from the desk. Until one is filled with disgust and abhorrence of the work. Then the work is finished.” (p. 78)
“The emphatic Ego always has interests, whether they are greedy, domineering, vain, or lazy. It always follows appetites and instincts, as long as it does not become a part of society. Renunciation of interests means renunciation of ones Ego. The Ego and the interests are identical. That is why the individualistic-egotistic ideal of the Renaissance developed into the combination of mechanized appetites that we see bleeding and rotting before our eyes.” (p. 90)
“…if the importance of the author were to be dispensed with, then a confessional, self-exhausting attitude would be essential.” (p. 87)
“The only thing we can put our hopes in is unconditional honesty, even if it cuts into our own flesh. (p. 85)
“A task that everyone else shudders at, no one wants to take on, and no one thinks is possible, or even necessary—that could very well be a task for me.” (p. 84)
[END of quotes from Hugo Ball's Dada Diaries of 1927!!!]
I think we sober business professionals, I am in web usability and blog marketing/media, we could learn a lot from our wilder brothers and sisters in the arts and literature.
For example, the Dada use of typographical indiscretions, experimental noise in concerts, and strange metal costumes.
The shock of the new and strange can get our creative juices flowing with innovation and competitive advantage to sweeten the pie.
Seth Godin, Tom Peters, Drucker, Demming: they keep ringing in our ears, but do we break through and try new things, like blogs, to move into the New Media and New Share Economy?
You ought to have a sidebar list of good manufacturing blogs, like Tinbasher, the UK sheet metal blog.
Everything you do, in fact, is wrong, but not to worry.
Vaspers the Grate can fix it all, for a measly $5,000 if you respond by March 6, 2006 at midnight as the crow flies into the fulness of the fixtures fluffing down the middle of tech-sneak bypassing the moribund flow of crucial cucumber-encumbered societal ills.
Just Skype me, and let’s talk. The sooner you call, the sooner I can start making some money, so don’t delay. Do it now, while you’re thinking about it. Hurry up.
{END of comment I posted at NAM}
VASPERS: The competitor you must fear the most: the one that keeps on working day after day, and year after year, with no success, no fame, no respect, no MSM coverage, no reward, no profit. Why? Because they’re doing it for the sheer delight of the work itself. They will discover new tech and will evangelize it enthusiastically. The competitor that keeps plugging away merrily with zero to show for it is not a “loser”. That competitor is an obsessed driving force that will finally, someday, punch a hole into the leather of unreality it wishes to penetrate, to then slide into a whole new terrain.
If you are no good at writing, you can now talk back to us. With an Odeo mini-podcast module. Speak now, or forever hold your “piece” and do you know what with it.
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Pradeep Aggarwal said this on February 27, 2006 6:41 am