(Edited from Wikipedia)
Hugo Ball was a German author,
poet, and essentially the founder of the Dada movement in European art in
Zürich in 1916. Among other accomplishments, he was a pioneer in the
development of sound poetry.
At the beginning of World War I,
he tried joining the army as a volunteer, but was denied enlistment for medical
reasons. After witnessing the invasion of Belgium, he was disillusioned,
saying: "The war is founded on a glaring mistake -- men have been confused
with machines."
Considered a traitor in his
country, he crossed the frontier with the cabaret performer and poet Emmy
Hennings, whom he would marry in 1920, and settled in Zürich, Switzerland.
There, Ball continued his interest in anarchism and in Mikhail Bakunin in
particular; he also worked on a book of translations of works by Bakunin, which
never got published. Although interested in anarchist philosophy, he
nonetheless rejected it for its militant aspects, and viewed it as only a means
to his personal goal of socio-political enlightenment.
In 1916, Hugo Ball created the
Dada Manifesto, making a political statement about his views on the terrible
state of society and acknowledging his dislike for philosophies of the past
that claimed to possess the ultimate truth.
The same year as the Manifesto,
in 1916, Ball wrote his poem "Karawane," a poem consisting of
nonsensical words. The meaning, however, resides in its meaninglessness,
reflecting the chief principle behind Dadaism.
Some of his other best known
works include the poem collection 7 schizophrene Sonette, the drama Die Nase
des Michelangelo, a memoir of the Zürich period Flight Out of Time: A Dada
Diary, and a biography of Hermann Hesse, entitled Hermann Hesse. Sein Leben und
sein Werk (1927).
As co-founder of the Cabaret
Voltaire in Zürich, he led the Dada movement in Zürich and is one of the people
credited with naming the movement "Dada," by allegedly choosing the
word at random from a dictionary. His companion and future wife, Emmy Hennings,
was also a member of Dada.
He contributed to the journal
Hochland during this time. He also began the process of revising his diaries
from 1910 to 1921, which were later published under the title Die Flucht aus
der Zeit (Flight Out of Time). These diaries provide a wealth of information
concerning the people and events of the Zürich Dada movement. He died in
Sant'Abbondio, Switzerland, of stomach cancer on 14 September 1927.
Opening
Manifesto, the first Dada evening
(Opening
Manifesto of the 1st Dada Evening)
Zurich,
July 14, 1916
Dada is a new art direction. You
can tell that by the fact that no one knew anything about it so far and that
Zurich will talk about it tomorrow. Dada comes from the Lexicon. It's terribly
easy. In French it means hobby horse. In German: Addio, please go down my back,
goodbye another time! In Romanian: 'Yes, truly, you are right, it is so. Yes,
really. Do we'. And so on.
An international word. Just a
word and the word as movement. It's just terrible. If you make an art movement
out of it, it must mean that you want to take away complications. Dada
psychology, Dada literature, Dada bourgeoisie and you, dearest poets, who you
have always written with words, but never the word itself. Dada world war and
no end, Dada revolution and no beginning. Dada you friends and also poets, most
valuable evangelists. Dada Tzara, Dada Huelsenbeck, Dada m'dada, Dada mhm
'dada, Dada Hue, Dada Tza.
How do you attain eternal bliss?
By saying Dada. How do you become famous? By saying Dada. With a noble gesture
and with decency. To the point of insanity, to the point of unconsciousness.
How can you dismiss everything that is basky and journalistic, everything nice
and preppy, everything moralized, vertical, graced? By saying Dada. Dada is the
world soul, Dada is the highlight, Dada is the best lily milk soap in the
world. Dada Mr. Rubiner, Dada Mr. Korrodi, Dada Mr. Anastasius Lilienstein.
In German, this means that
hospitality in Switzerland is to be valued above all else, and aesthetics
depend on the norm.
I read verses that have nothing
less to do than: to avoid language. Dada Johann Fuchsgang Goethe. Dada
Stendhal. Dada Buddha, Dalai Lama, Dada m'dada, Dada m'dada, Dada mhm 'dada. It
depends on the connection and that it is interrupted a little beforehand. I
don't want words that others made up. All words were invented by others. I want
my own nonsense, and vowels and consonants that match it. If a vibration is
seven cubits long, I want to add words that are seven cubits long. Herr
Schulze's words are only two and a half centimeters.
Now you can see how the
articulated language is created. I just drop the lute. Words appear, shoulders
of words; Legs, arms, hands of words. Au, oi, u. You shouldn't let too many
words come up. A verse is the opportunity to get along without words and without
language if possible. This damned language, to which dirt sticks like from
broker hands that have grabbed the coins. I want to have the word where it ends
and where it starts.
Every thing has its word; there
the word itself became a thing. Why can't the tree be called Pluplusch, and
Pluplubasch if it rained? And why does it have to mean anything at all? Do we
have to hang our mouths everywhere? The word, the word, the pain in this place,
the word, gentlemen, is a public matter of the highest order.
