DADA SOUNDS

February 5, 2016 marked 100 years since the founding of the Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich, and thus the beginning of Dada.

Cities and Memory: Dada Sounds marks a century of Dadaism by applying the techniques and practices of Dada to field recordings from around the world, bringing a Dadaist approach to the concepts of sound, place and memory and creating a new, Dada-inspired sound world.

Explore the Dada Sounds on the sound map below, and in the playlist.

Dada sound map

Dada Sounds playlist

The project features:

– 28 countries, taking in everywhere from Iceland and Canada and from India to Vietnam.

– Iconic Dada locations including Berlin, Paris and the very doorstep of the Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich.

– 77 sound artists, musicians and field recordists taking part from across the world, each bringing their own interpretation to the project.

Cities and Memory: Dada Sounds

The sounds use a huge range of Dada-inspired techniques to reimagine the sounds, from collage and abstraction to sound poetry and pieces based around the lives and experiences of some of the key figures of Dada.

Examples of techniques and approaches include:

– Introduction of extinct languages including Ubykh, ancient Assyrian and Gothic;

– Reimagining sounds using specially-made Intonamuri machines;

– How to Make a Dadaist Field Recording – a rewriting of Tristan Tzara’s method How to Make a Dadaist Poem;

– Sound poems, written by artists themselves or drawn from Dadaist history;

– Pieces bases around the work and lives of key Dada figures including Hugo Ball, Tristan Tzara, Kurt Schwitters and Francis Picabia;

– Pieces inspired by Orson Welles, David Bowie, Duke Ellington and myriad other sources.

Cities and Memory: Dada Sounds