Proclamation Without Pretension by Tristan Tzara
Art is going to sleep for a new world to be born
"ART"-parrot word-replaced by DADA,
PLESIOSAURUS, or handkerchief
The talent THAT CAN BE LEARNED makes the
poet a druggist TODAY the criticism
of balances no longer challenges with resemblances
Hypertrophic painters hyperaes-
theticized and hypnotized by the hyacinths
of the hypocritical-looking muezzins
CONSOLIDATE THE HARVEST OF EX-
ACT CALCULATIONS
Hypodrome of immortal guarantees: there is
no such thing as importance there is no transparence
or appearance
MUSICIANS SMASH YOUR INSTRUMENTS
BLIND MEN take the stage
THE SYRINGE is only for my understanding. I write because it is
natural exactly the way I piss the way I'm sick
ART NEEDS AN OPERATION
Art is a PRETENSION warmed by the
TIMIDITY of the urinary basin, the hysteria born
in THE STUDIO
We are in search of
the force that is direct pure sober
UNIQUE we are in search of NOTHING
we affirm the VITALITY of every IN-
STANT
the anti-philosophy of spontaneous acrobatics
At this moment I hate the man who whispers
before the intermission-eau de cologne-
sour theatre. THE JOYOUS WIND
If each man says the opposite it is because he is
right
Get ready for the action of the geyser of our blood
-submarine formation of transchromatic aero-
planes, cellular metals numbered in
the flight of images
above the rules of the
and its control
BEAUTIFUL
It is not for the sawed-off imps
who still worship their navel
13 comments:
rage!
and while I don't know enough about art to comment necessarily, I will say that I am always wary of those how use their disdain as the evidence for their conceptions and propositions about any topic.
some pretty good lines in there though...Art needs an operation!
He was one of the Dada presidents. I guess I was wondering if his critique still holds up today?
We are in the search of
the force that is direct pure sober
UNIQUE we are in search of NOTHING
we affirm the VITALITY of every IN-
STANT
we affirm the vitality of every instant!!!
I like that part of his argument.
how does one live oriented to affirm the vitality of every instant?
what does that look like I wonder?
perhaps it's doing something for the sake of it?
Let the operation begin.
i've been reading lots of Modernist stuff lately-- Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot to name a few.
obviously there were a lot of overlaps b/t them and the Dadaists, but it's interesting how much this sounds like it could have been written by Pound.
and good point, cara, about disdain. i find that ivory-towerism in any discipline is usually about the disdainer's own insecurities more than anything.
this reminds me too of the Refus Global, signed on Aug 9, 1948 by a bunch of leading QC thinkers and artists, and usually considered the start of the Quiet Revolution in Quebec:
"Make way for Magic! Make way for Objective Mysteries! Make way for Love!"
how does one live oriented to affirm the vitality of every instant?
To me, this is the lesson that we are meant to learn in a yoga practice. It applies to all aspect in life, but I'm currently learning to practice on my mat.
the old "counting your blessings" idea is a good starting point too. life has been good to us all.
re: cara's earlier comment, though, and my comment on it... I think that with the Dadaists, and the Modernists, so much of what they were reacting to/against was what they saw as the forces that caused the First World War.
I know with Pound, b/c i'm studying him right now, the reaction me and a lot of others have had is: "Why does he have to endlessly bash the Victorians, and endlessly call out Tennyson as a fruad?". It seems very mean-spirited and arrogant. And it is, in a way, but when you imagine the historical context they were in, there was a strong need to reject EVERYTHING that had come before them, because all of it was somehow connected to the war.
So their disdain, while it's still kind of unsightly, does make some sense in the context of their day.
But i still bristle every time Pound calls Tennyson a "fraud", or every time (sixty years later, but) Bukowski calls anyone a fraud.
I think you make a good point about the historical context. However, I do think it is a flawed assumption to think that you can be seperated (entirely anyways) from what came before you. It's kind of artificial.
I don't think that I have as much problem with disdain per se, but I do have a problem when a) it's wholesale disdain for everything that isn't what you are, b) when it is not accompanied by evidence and well thought out arguments against what you disdain, c) and calling people frauds.
I think that's a really "modernist" idea actually, because a post modernist might just call that hybridity...
:)
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