A Walk in the Bizarre

The term bi•zarre |biˈzär| means odd, eccentric and strikingly out of the ordinary. The bizzare is the construct of our creative, nonconformist right brain. It is absolutely absurd, crazy, nonsensical, preposterous. It is unreal. It is wild. It is fanciful. It is the bizzare that creates movements and sets trends. An example is The Dada (movement or more of a non-movement) that began in Zurich in reponse to the insane killings of World War I. The movement was spearheaded by people walking in the bizzare.  Artists, poets, writers, intellectuals all concerted their efforts on anti-war politics by denouncing the prevailing standards in art through anti-art cultural works. Their purpose was to taunt what they considered to be the nonsensical nationalism, rationalism, materialism and any other -ism which they felt had contributed to a senseless war. An example of the outrageous Dada art is the painting of Mona Lisa with a mustache by Marcel Duchamp.

As crazy as it sounds, the movement chose the name “Dada” by inserting a slip of paper into a French dictionary. It so happened that the paper landed on the word dada, which happens to mean a hobbyhorse or child's toy. A bizarre idea to create non-art moved on to be a powerful influencer of avant-garde, downtown music, surrealism, Nouveau réalisme, pop art, Fluxus and punk rock.

We are in an age of bizarre mass media homogeneity. Very often, we are concerned about the market approval rather than our inner consent. As easy as it is to follow the trend and become a part of mediocre mainstream, it is crucial as designers and thought leaders to step out of the proven path of mediocrity and experience the backroads of bizarre....there is only one rule. Never follow any known rules. You will be amazed! 

I owe this indulgence in the bizarre to a bizarre blog that I had come across a few days ago. It seems like the writer, if even for a moment happend to realize the illusive nature of our universe.

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