dada in D.C.

Surrealist poets would be delighted to know about the dada exhibit at Washington's National Gallery--although this article doesn't give mention about Tristan Tzara founding the movement, just his friends Hugo and Richard.

For my MFA Surrealism Poetry course, I chose Tristan Tzara--the poet & essayist known as the founder of dada--as my research subject. In addition to the extensive final research paper, I had to write a creative series of works modeled after our historical surrealist writer. Here are some excerpts from my Tzara-inspired prose, modeled after his "Dada Manifesto" and "Lecture on Dada". (Reading it now, I realize it makes better sense if combined with reading Tzara's actual manifesto. Or perhaps I was hyped up on coffee at the time of composition.)

III
We have always made poorly-constructed rhymes and foamy espresso beverages, but the greatest mistakes are the poems we have written. Gossip has one single bad breath: the rejuvenation and maintenance of biblical and Shakespearean traditions. Gossip is only glorifying itself (like cheerleaders and kids who shop at Old Navy), encouraged by the state-controlled tobacco company (and large home breweries), the international airports of America, all the hospitals in Spokane, the funeral and basket-weaving industry and coffee factories . . . The form under which it most often appears is DADA, and sometimes surrealism in the form of a graduate level Monday night class in downtown Spokane.
. . .
Is simplicity simple, or dada?

I consider myself rather likeable. (but still, I am at times a wee bit selfish)


IV
Is poetry necessary? I know that those who shout in the most nasal voice against it are actually preparing a comfortable obsession for it; they call it the Future Hygienic (or as my dentist would say, a Floss-Free New Order).

People (like professors and other intellectuals) envision the (ever-impending) annihilation of art, independent films in Spokane, and coffee houses that stay open after 10:00 p.m. Here they are looking for a more art-like art. Hygiene becomes mygod mygod purity. Must we no longer believe in words or x-rays? Since when do they express the contrary of what the organ that utters them things and wants?* Herein lies the great secret: Thought is made in the mouth. (and sometimes in the buttocks)I still consider myself very likeable. (And not quite so selfish anymore.)

A great Spokane County philosopher (originally from Canada) said: Thought and the past are also very likeable.
* Thinks. wants, and wishes to think

. . .

VI
It seems that this exists: more logical, very logical, too logical, less logical, not very logical, really logical, fairly logical.
Well then, draw the inferences.
"I want spicy rice."
Now think of the person you would most love to tickle to death.
"Have you?"
Tell me the number and I'll tell you the Power Ball lottery number in all 27 states.

VII
A seminary student, in other words with his eyes closed, Dada places before action and above all: self-loathing and insecure Doubt. DADA doubts everything. Dada is an armadillo. Dada is a Chihuahua wearing a skirt. Dada is cold cous cous. Everything is Dada, too. Beware of Dada.

Anti-dadaism is a disease: selfkleptomania, man's normal condition, is DADA.
But the real dadas are against DADA. Just like the real coffee addicts make their own brew at home.

The selfkleptomaniac.

The person who steals - without thinking of her own interests or knitting needs, or of her will - elements of her individual, is a kleptomaniac. She steals herself. She causes the characters that alienate her from the community to disappear. She hides behind her cell phone, purse, and stiletto shoes. The bourgeois resemble one another - they're all alike. They used not to be alike. They have been taught to steal - stealing has become a fad (like Converse and bubblegum) - the most convenient and least dangerous thing is to steal oneself. They are all very poor. They are all on food stamps or living off student financial aid, subsidized Stafford loans. The poor are against DADA. They have a lot to do with their brains. They'll never get to the end of it. They work. The poor are against DADA. He who is against DADA is for me, a famous man said, but then he died after a few too many cigarettes and tequila shots. They buried him like a true dadaist. Guten Tag Dada. Beware! And remember this example.

* * *

how i became charming, likeable and delightful
- by amy tzara

1st December 2003

I sleep very late – sometimes past 8:00. I commit suicide at 65.725%. My life is very cheap (like a Mexican rug), it's only 4.25% of life for me. My life has 4.25% of life. It lacks arms, strings, a few buttons, and two ovaries. 5% is devoted to a state of semi-lucid stupor accompanied by vegetarian crackling and nail-biting. This 5% is called DADA. So life is cheap like Wal-Mart. Death is a bit more expensive like The Bon-Macy’s. But life is charming and death is equally charming (though I can’t remember the last time I died).

A few days ago I was at a meeting of imbeciles. There were a lot of people there. Everyone was charming, except for the girl with the hairy lips. Amy Tzara, a small, absurd and insignificant poet was giving a lecture on the art of becoming charming. She was charming, at that. Everyone is charming and sometimes a little too funny. And witty. It's delightful, isn't it? Everyone is delightful, at that. 9.75 degrees below zero. It's charming, isn't it? No, it isn't charming. God isn't up to it, nor is his Mother. He isn't even in the Spokane city directory or the yellow pages. He doesn’t even have his own website yet. But even so he's charming.

Ambassadors to Seattle, MFA poets, princes, musicians, Nirvana fans, journalists, Hollywood actors, writers, diplomats, directors, dressmakers, socialists, princesses and baronesses are charming.

You are all charming, very subtle, witty and delightful (and I must say, I love the way you smell). Amy Tzara says to you: she's quite willing to do something else, but she prefers to remain an idiot, a practical joker and a hoaxer who still laughs at whoopee cushions. Be sincere for a moment: what I've just said to you - is it charming or idiotic? Is it worthy of an MFA final project?

There are some people (journalists, lawyers, amateurs, philosophers) who even think that business, marriages, visits, wars, various conferences, limited companies, politics, accidents, dance halls, economic crises, fits of hysterics, are variations of dada.

Not being a properly trained hypnotist, I don't share their opinion. I believe rather, that dada is only a divinity of the Da Vinci Code, which must quite simply be placed beside the other forms of the new mechanism of Spokane city maps and downtown one-way streets.
Is simplicity simple, or dada?
I consider myself rather likeable. (Please hold your applause until after I leave. Thank you.)

* * *

Surrealist writing exercises
Most people have heard of The Exquisite Corpse game. Mad Libs are another great tool for getting at the spirit of dadaism--the not-completely-sensical cohesion of language. (Another helpful instruction site.)

How to make a Dadaist Poem (method of Tristan Tzara)

Some Tzara poems:
The Great Lament Of My Obscurity Three
Vegetable Swallow