Berlin, circa 1921: The painter Hans Richter turns his talents to film and produces one of the earliest abstract films, Rhythmus 21. Clocking in at just over three minutes, it's a significant departure from the newsreels, romances, cliff-hangers, and penny-dreadfuls that made up the bulk of film production in the early ’20s—the first decade in which the film industry began to play a major economic and cultural role around the world. [more inside]
posted by scody on Jun 14, 2011 - 9 comments

I'd rather measure the diameter of a dove than go barter-shopping with a frilly lion. (Lots of Previously.)
posted by blue funk on Apr 30, 2010 - 21 comments

The Karl Waldmann Museum, where you can see all of his collages.
posted by OmieWise on Jun 11, 2009 - 6 comments

Somewhere between dada and surrealist, Marcel Duchamp revolutionized art with his "readymades," a term for found objects taken directly from society. Except, maybe they weren't. [more inside]
posted by Damn That Television on Jun 1, 2009 - 60 comments

In 1916, Hugo Ball would fulfill his own dadaist manifesto by reciting his own nonsense poetry at the Cabaret Voltaire (not that Cabaret Voltaire), while wearing a Cubist costume or a cylinder with the number 13 covering his face. Ball's poem, Gadji Beri Bimba, inspired the Talking Heads song, I Zimbra, but his most famous poem is Karawane, a pioneering example of sound poetry. Karawane has more conventional avant-garde versions on YouTube, but none is more surreal than the recitation from memory by Marie Osmond (yes, that Marie Osmond) from a 1980s broadcast of Ripley's Believe It Or Not!
posted by jonp72 on Mar 9, 2009 - 21 comments

Chema Madoz -- photos
posted by amberglow on Jun 28, 2007 - 29 comments