Dadaglobe Reconstructed
In 1921 Tristan Tzara collated a large number of texts and images contributed by over 30 for an anthology entitled ‘Dadaglobe'. The project never came to fruition, but almost a century later it was remembered in an exhibition at the Kunsthaus Zürich and the MoMA in New York. The medium-sized, hardcover catalogue is exceptionally well organised and thus almost entirely self-explanatory, making the fragmented material readily accessible. The first section, in a narrower paper format, contains illustrated art-historical essays and a directory with meticulous scholarly commentaries on each individual item. The second, wider section contains reproductions of all the contributions, in line with principles that are elucidated in detail, finally bringing the Dadaglobe project to life in a new form. The highly systematic design employs a set framework and a uniform font but combines these with varying image sizes, spacings and leadings as well as upper case and underlining. The features of the individual contributions are shown to their best advantage, while the layouts are both informative and playful, the result avoiding any hint of a Dada pastiche.
