Huelsenbeck's chosen role for the literary-revolutionary Dada
evenings at Cabaret Voltaire (see also Ball, above) was the reading
of "sound-poems" with the inevitable refrain umba, umba and the
beating of a drum (like Oskar from the Grass novel?). His absurdist
collection of poetry Phantastische Gebete brought great distress to
his mother, who no doubt could not understand what had come over
her son the doctor. He liked to think of himself as "the first
existentialist" and of Sartre, who has proclaimed "Moi, je suis le
nouveau dada," as an accredited follower. What distinguishes this
"moralist-cum-mischief-maker" from the deeply philosophical Hugo
Ball is the very evident pagan pleasure he takes in having "annoyed
the world," his enthusiasm for deeming and re-defining the spirit
of Dada, and for promoting its values (epater le bourgeois) on both
sides of the Atlantic. Huelsenbeck, who fled Germany after Hitler,
obtained an American medical license thanks to the intervention of
Albert Einstein and practiced psychoanalysis with Karen Horney.
Many of the short essays here - including homage to Arp, Duchamp,
Tinguely, Grosz and disrespect for co-founder Tzara - date from the
'50's and '60's. "Psychoanalytical Notes on Modern Art" and "Modern
Art and Totalitarian Regimes" are noteworthy pieces on the origins
of aesthetic subjectivity and abstractionism. Insofar as it can be
explained in the conventions of language ("You cannot and probably
should not understand Dada. It will always remain a living part of
the essentially inexplicable"), Huelsenbeck is the movement's
foremost interpreter. (Kirkus Reviews)
Richard Huelsenbeck's memoirs bring to life the intellectual,
artistic, and political concerns of the individuals involved in the
Dada movement and document its controversies. Illustrated with
woodcuts and drawings by George Grosz and Hans Arp, 'Memoirs of a
Dada Drummer' also includes a sixteen-page section of rare
photographs.
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