Dada definition

1916-1920s
The Dada movement included a heavy undercurrent of a spontaneity and chance.  It emerged among European writers and artists starting around 1915 and lasting until 1922.  The term “Dada” was coined by Tristan Tzara who stabbed a dictionary with a knife in the effort to create a name for the growing movement.  Artists and writers of the time were growingly becoming fed up with the killings and atmosphere created from World War One; as a result, they tried to shake people up to take notice and to change things.  Key artists of the movement include; George Grosz, Otto Dix, Hans Richter, Jean Arp, and Marcel Duchamp.