M96 Adam Pendleton
Black Dada (2008)
The American artist Adam Pendleton (b. 1984) wrote the ‘Black Dada’ manifesto while en route to Italy, where he performed it at Manifesta 7 (the European Biennial of Contemporary Art) in the autumn of 2008. The manifesto takes its framework from two notorious political artworks: ‘The Dada Manifesto’ spoken by the German poet Hugo Ball in Zurich in 1916, which arguably initiated the art movement of Dadaism; and the poem ‘Black Dada Nihilismus’ (1964) by LeRoi Jones (later known as Amiri Baraka), which became one of the defining statements of the Black Arts Movement founded by Jones in the 1960s.
For Pendleton, the term ‘Black Dada’ is a way of questioning where the African-American aesthetic fits into the history of avant-garde art while not forgetting its own cultural and civil struggles. Importantly it articulates the social theorist Paul Gilroy’s influential concept of the ‘Black Atlantic’, which argues that black consciousness had a central role in the development of modernism as a result of black artists’ engagement with white culture rather than their rejection of it. Pendleton has also made a series of black paintings called Black Dada, which refract minimalism through a similar prism. The manifesto, in a way, is like a minimalist sculpture in that it conforms to a strict mathematically defined structure, beginning with one line and then doubling the length of each section it until it reaches 128 lines.
* * *
1.
it’s a matter of fact
it’s a matter of fact
a full moon hanging in a low sky irradiates the day with a milky glow
4.
it’s a matter of fact
going in a taxi from the train station
a full moon hanging in a low sky irradiates the day with a milky glow
i was with nielsen living and painting in a north beach flat
8.
it’s a matter of fact
a full moon hanging in a low sky irradiates the day with a milky glow
i was with nielsen living and painting in a north beach flat
going in a taxi from the train station
and then somebody kicks off the lid
sigh and then breathe
these buildings don’t uncover a single truth, so which truth do you want to tell?
the grant is 800 euros
16.
it’s a matter of fact
a full moon hanging in a low sky irradiates the day with a milky glow
the grant is 800 euros
it’s theological; it’s a revelation
going in a taxi from the train station
and then somebody kicks off the lid
need i cite charles van doren
on a stool in a greasy spoon
human beings were born to live in a relationship of interdependence with nature
the performance must be done on location
regular communication by email with a commitment to responding within a reasonable time frame
the performer must not be credited
a revolving door
she was a unit in a bum space; she was a damaged child
so did i love
architecture is bound to situation
32.
it’s a matter of fact
a full moon hanging in a low sky irradiates the day with a milky glow
now i am older and wiser
going in a taxi from the train station
she was a unit in a bum space; she was a damaged child
so did i love
regular communication by email with a commitment to responding within a reasonable time frame
sigh and then breathe
the performer must not be credited
and then somebody kicks off the lid
it’s theological; it’s a revelation
steel bell drops
the grant is 800 euros
on a stool in a greasy spoon
need i cite charles van doren
i want the grey-blue grain of western summer
i want the cardboard box of wool sweaters on top of the bookcase to indicate home
i want a very beautiful woman
a common doubt expressed about the “practice-based” researcher is whether they are equipped for “competent reading”
the performance must be done on location
these buildings don’t uncover a single truth, so which truth do you want to tell?
the desire for coffee
the formal beauty of a back porch
remember the wedding?
dada is our intensity
i want a very beautiful man
when a work of architecture successfully fuses a building and situation, a third condition emerges
i think what black arts did was inspire a whole lot of black people to write
monuments are embarrassing to dutch culture
revolving door
song of the garbage collectors beneath the bedroom window
seeds of the fig
64.
it’s a matter of fact
a full moon hanging in a low sky irradiates the day with a milky glow
going in a taxi from the train station
now i am older and wiser
she was a unit in a bum space; she was a damaged child
the formal beauty of a back porch
and then somebody kicks off the lid
i need the grey-blue grain of western summer
i need the cardboard box of wool sweaters on top of the bookcase to indicate home
i need a very beautiful woman
steel bell drops
when a work of architecture successfully fuses a building and situation, a third condition emerges
what black arts did was inspire a whole lot of black people to write
this is dada’s balcony, i assure you
from there you can hear all the military marches, and come down cleaving the air like a seraph landing in a public bath(s) to piss and understand the parable
i had a nice dick, average length and all
i wanted ron to look at it, want it
dada is our intensity; it erects inconsequential bayonets and the sumatral head of german babies
i need a very beautiful man
it’s theological; it’s a revelation
the grant is 800 euros
need i cite charles van doren on a stool in a greasy spoon
how are we to define this poem?
what makes you think that’s what this is for?
what do you want for christmas?
does it mean that if the universe is infinite, then in some other world a man sits in a kitchen, possibly in a farmhouse, the sky lightening, and nobody else up and about as he writes down these words?
i want the perfume back in the bottle
i need a prick in my mouth
i need an explanation
what did you think when they converted the funeral home into a savings and loan?
revolving door
dry blood
song of the garbage collectors beneath the bedroom window
seeds of the fig
white dada remains within the framework of european weakness
the essence of architecture is an organic link between concept and form
pieces cannot be subtracted or added without upsetting fundamental properties
we want coherence
she was a unit in a bum space; she was a damaged child, sitting in her rocker by the window
i want western movies
i need monday morning, a prick in my mouth and coffee
a cigarette and coffee for two
primal soup
pineapple slices
Black Dada is a way to talk about the future while talking about the past; it is our present moment
a common doubt expressed about the “practice-based” researcher is whether they are equipped for “competent reading”
yellowing gauze curtains
remember the wedding?
the raised highway through the flood plain
regular communication by email with a commitment to responding within a reasonable time frame
so did i love this
the performer must not be credited
the performance must be done on location
feet, do your stuff
sigh and then breathe
i want a young man with long eyelashes
white wings of a magpie
red shingle roof
i’m unable to find the right straw hat
how will i know when i make a mistake?
presentness
soap
we ate them
128.
it’s a matter of fact
she was a unit in a bum space; she was a damaged child
a full moon hanging in a low sky irradiating the day with a milky glow
the formal beauty of a back porch
Black Dada
The Black Dada must …
The Black Dada must use irrational language.
The Black Dada must exploit the logic of identity.
The Black Dada’s manifesto is both form and life.
can you feel it?
does it hurt?
is this too soft?
do you like it?
do you like this?
is this how you like it?
is it alright?
is he here?
is he breathing?
is it him?
is it hard?
is it cold?
does it weigh much?
is it heavy?
do you have to carry it far?
what about dinner?
The Black Dada is neither madness, nor wisdom, nor irony.
song of the garbage collectors beneath the bedroom window
look at me, dear bourgeois
dada is a new tendency in art
art used to be a game of nuts in may, children would go gathering words that had a final ring, then they would exude, shout out the verse, and dress it up in dolls’ bootees …
one can tell this from the fact that until now nobody knew anything about it, and tomorrow everyone in zurich will be talking about it
Black Dada: we are successive
Black Dada: we are not exclusive
Black Dada: we abhor simpletons and are perfectly capable of an intelligent discussion!
DA DA DA DA DA DA DA TK TK TK TK
thus saith the lord
i need ron to look at it, want it
i need a beautiful woman
i need the cardboard box of wool sweaters on top of the bookcase to indicate home
i need western movies
i need the grey-blue grain of western summer
Sol LeWitt exhibited his Variations of Incomplete Open Cubes in the early 1970s.
Which is to say LeWitt’s Paragraphs on Conceptual Art (1967) and Sentences on Conceptual Art (1969) had already been written.
In 1969 a young June Jordan dedicated her poem “Who Look at Me” to her son Christopher:
We come from otherwhere
In part we grew by looking back at you
BLACK DADA.
Malcolm X arrived in Harlem in the early 1950s.
In 1952 John Cage composed his famous silent work 4’ 33”.
At the Meredith March in June 1966, a year before LeWitt wrote Paragraphs on Conceptual Art, Stokely Carmichael arguably laid the foundation for the Black Power movement.
In a talk given at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst on the 6th of November 2006, Kathleen Cleaver asked:
The 1960s, is that something that still makes you stand up and notice? Do you still notice the 1960s?
Hugo Ball read his Dada Manifesto at the first public Dada soirée in Zurich’s Waag Hall on July 14th, 1916:
Dada psychology, dada Germany cum indigestion … dada literature, dada bourgeoisie, and yourselves, honored poets, who are always writing with words but never writing the word itself, who are always writing about the actual point. Dada world war without end, dada revolution without beginning, dada your friends and also-poets …
Dadaism in the wake of the First World War.
Public gatherings.
Demonstrations.
Art of protest.
BLACK DADA.
Did our conceptual artists join hands with our freedom fighters?
Did they demonstrate in Birmingham?
Did they cover their faces when the hoses were turned on them?
History is in fact an incomplete cube shirking linearity.
BLA K DA. B DA. BLACK D D.
a common doubt expressed about the ‘practice-based’ researcher is whether they are equipped for ‘competent reading’
feet, do your stuff
sigh and then breathe
i want the perfume back in the bottle
i want a prick in my mouth
i want a young man with long eyelashes
regular communication by email with a commitment to responding within a reasonable time frame
so did i love (this)
the performer must not be credited
the performance must be done on location
props and sets must not be brought in
the sound must never be produced apart from the images or vice versa
any cameras for documentation must be handheld
special lighting is not acceptable
optical tricks and “effects” are forbidden
the performance must not contain superficial action, declarations or jokes
temporal and geographical alienation are forbidden
genre performances are not acceptable
the format must be set: 30 minutes, 20 minutes, 1 hour
white wings of a magpie
steel bell drops
wave glory
soap
presentness
human beings were born to live in a relationship of interdependence with nature
the desire for coffee
how will i know when i make a mistake?
the grant is 800 euros
does it mean that if the universe is infinite, then in some other world a man sits in a kitchen, possibly in a farmhouse, the sky lightening, and nobody else up as he sits and writes down these words?
if the function of writing is to express the world
i need an explanation
i’m unable to find the right straw hat
Black Dada is a way to talk about the future while talking about the past
History is an endless variation, a machine upon which we can project ourselves and our ideas
that is to say it is our present moment
The history of conceptual art as (is) an intimately constructed narrative deserving of an aggressive deconstructive interpretation.
An iconic structure that embraces linearly passive readings of its ideological principals and the moment of its “coming into being.”
the raised highway through the flood plain
pineapple slices
we want coherence
we want a revolving door
song of the garbage collectors beneath the bedroom window
seeds of the fig
white dada remains within the framework of european weakness
i need monday morning and a prick in my mouth
a cigarette and coffee for two
what does it cost?
do you speak english?
do you hear a ringing sound?
are you high yet?
is he the father?
are you a student at the radio school?
what is it that attracts you to bisexual women?
do you know which insect you most resemble?
did you know i have a nice dick, average length?
did you know his cum is the eighth color of the rainbow?
do you know what it tastes like?
but now, look at me, we don’t agree with them, for art isn’t serious, i assure you, and if we reveal the crime so as to show that we are learned denunciators, it’s to please you, dear audience, i assure you, and i adore
but now i was older and wiser
black dada your history of art
we ate them