D

DICTIONARY

D

Dada
A literary and artistic movement in Europe and USA from 1916 to 1924. The term Dada has no actual meaning but can refer to baby talk in German, "yes yes" in Rumanian and a rocking horse in French. The absurdity of the name is typical of the group.

The movement sprang up in Zürich at Cabaret Voltaire under the leadership of Hugo Ball where the entertainment comprised absurd performances of poetry readings, music, etc. Branches of the group later appeared in Berlin and elsewhere.

Dada was a protest against the brutality of World War I and the society which had brought about the war. Thus Dada also rebelled against the bourgeois view of art and the existing high culture, emphasising absurdity and art's potential for social criticism, and turning against the sensuous and formal art. The media employed by Dada were as diverse as photomontage, collage and ready-mades.

Jean Arp


Daguerreotype
The daguerreotype was the first practicable photographic process which made it possible to capture the image created by the light of the sun.

As early as 1835 the inventor of the daguerreotype, L.J.M. Daguerre, had discovered that mercury vapours could render a photographic image visible. However, it was not until 1837 that he succeeded in fixing this image with the aid of a simple saline solution.

The daguerreotype constituted a significant photo-technological innovation. Nonetheless the photographic process still necessitated a long exposure time of up to thirty minutes.

Elina Brotherus


Devotional picture
Art historical term for small, often portable pictures which originated in Germany in the fourteenth century. Devotional pictures illustrate emotional subjects of Christ and the Virgin Mary in scenes from the Passion, stimulating empathy and contemplation.

Bill Viola