Johannes Baader
Encyclopedia
Johannes Baader originally trained as an architect
, was a writer
and artist
associated with Dada
in Berlin
.
Baader's father worked as a metalworker at the royal buildings in Stuttgart. Johannes education began at the Stuttgart trade school from 1892 to 1895 and continued at the technical college. His first job was as a stonemason in Dresden
cutting gravestones. In 1905 after moving to Berlin, he met Raoul Hausmann
. Together they would become influential figures at the heart of Berlin Dada
. In 1906 he designed a World Temple, a utopian vision of interdenominational harmony. It took numerous forms as inspiration, including Greek
and India
n archetype
s. In common with many utopian architects of the time, the building remained unbuilt and exists in the form of sketches and writings, it was to be 1500m high. 1911-1912 saw him produce designs for an unbuilt zoo for Carl Hagenbeck
.
In 1914, Baaders written output began to increase. He published a treatise, Vierzehn Briefe Christi (Fourteen Letters of Christ) concerning Monism
and over the course of the next few years wrote articles for the journals Die freie Straße (The Free Street) and Der Dada. In 1917 in the midst of the First World War, he was certified legally insane as a result of manic depression. Now equipped with considerable license, he gave outrageous public performances parodying public and mythic identities and producing utopian designs of monumental, metaphysical, and messianic dimensions. In the same year he ran for office in the Reichstag in Saarbrücken and founded a company called Christus GmbH (Christ Ltd). Membership was offered to pacifists and deserters, and attempts were made to equate conscientious objection with Christian martyrdom. He became the centre of a scandal on 17 November 1918, after giving a performance in Berlin Cathedral entitled "Christus ist euch Wurst" (You don't give a damn about Christ), which widely mocked the clergy, liety and politicians and resulted in his brief arrest. In 1918, he declared he had been resurrected as the Oberdada - the president of the universe, really a Dadaist parody of a high-ranking military figure. He wrote Die acht Weltsätze (Eight World Theses), a quasi-religious tract in the same year.
Further explanations of his 'cosmic identity' were expounded in collage
s such as Dada Milchstrasse (Dada Milky Way, 1919) and written pieces. Attempts to initiate a Dada architecture, resulted in his Das grosse Plasto-Dio-Dada-Drama (The great Plasto-Dio-Dada-Drama), originally shown in 1920 at the Berlin Erste internationale Dada-Messe (First International Dada Fair). Baader also produced sketches of visionary architecture
, which, in common with those of Hausmann and Yefim Golïshev
, sometimes invoked proto-Constructivist
girderlike structures. In 1919 exactly a year after the abdication of the Kaiser, Baader printed calling cards proclaiming he was President of the Earth and Universe. He applied to teach at Gropius
's Bauhaus
with these qualifications. An unimpressed Gropius declined.
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
, was a writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
associated with Dada
Dada
Dada or Dadaism is a cultural movement that began in Zurich, Switzerland, during World War I and peaked from 1916 to 1922. The movement primarily involved visual arts, literature—poetry, art manifestoes, art theory—theatre, and graphic design, and concentrated its anti-war politics through a...
in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
.
Baader's father worked as a metalworker at the royal buildings in Stuttgart. Johannes education began at the Stuttgart trade school from 1892 to 1895 and continued at the technical college. His first job was as a stonemason in Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
cutting gravestones. In 1905 after moving to Berlin, he met Raoul Hausmann
Raoul Hausmann
Raoul Hausmann was an Austrian artist and writer. One of the key figures in Berlin Dada, his experimental photographic collages, sound poetry and institutional critiques would have a profound influence on the European Avant-Garde in the aftermath of World War I.-Early biography:Raoul Hausmann was...
. Together they would become influential figures at the heart of Berlin Dada
Dada
Dada or Dadaism is a cultural movement that began in Zurich, Switzerland, during World War I and peaked from 1916 to 1922. The movement primarily involved visual arts, literature—poetry, art manifestoes, art theory—theatre, and graphic design, and concentrated its anti-war politics through a...
. In 1906 he designed a World Temple, a utopian vision of interdenominational harmony. It took numerous forms as inspiration, including Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n archetype
Archetype
An archetype is a universally understood symbol or term or pattern of behavior, a prototype upon which others are copied, patterned, or emulated...
s. In common with many utopian architects of the time, the building remained unbuilt and exists in the form of sketches and writings, it was to be 1500m high. 1911-1912 saw him produce designs for an unbuilt zoo for Carl Hagenbeck
Carl Hagenbeck
Carl Hagenbeck was a merchant of wild animals who supplied many European zoos, as well as P.T. Barnum. He is often considered the father of the modern zoo because he introduced "natural" animal enclosures that included recreations of animals' native habitats without bars...
.
In 1914, Baaders written output began to increase. He published a treatise, Vierzehn Briefe Christi (Fourteen Letters of Christ) concerning Monism
Monism
Monism is any philosophical view which holds that there is unity in a given field of inquiry. Accordingly, some philosophers may hold that the universe is one rather than dualistic or pluralistic...
and over the course of the next few years wrote articles for the journals Die freie Straße (The Free Street) and Der Dada. In 1917 in the midst of the First World War, he was certified legally insane as a result of manic depression. Now equipped with considerable license, he gave outrageous public performances parodying public and mythic identities and producing utopian designs of monumental, metaphysical, and messianic dimensions. In the same year he ran for office in the Reichstag in Saarbrücken and founded a company called Christus GmbH (Christ Ltd). Membership was offered to pacifists and deserters, and attempts were made to equate conscientious objection with Christian martyrdom. He became the centre of a scandal on 17 November 1918, after giving a performance in Berlin Cathedral entitled "Christus ist euch Wurst" (You don't give a damn about Christ), which widely mocked the clergy, liety and politicians and resulted in his brief arrest. In 1918, he declared he had been resurrected as the Oberdada - the president of the universe, really a Dadaist parody of a high-ranking military figure. He wrote Die acht Weltsätze (Eight World Theses), a quasi-religious tract in the same year.
Further explanations of his 'cosmic identity' were expounded in collage
Collage
A collage is a work of formal art, primarily in the visual arts, made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole....
s such as Dada Milchstrasse (Dada Milky Way, 1919) and written pieces. Attempts to initiate a Dada architecture, resulted in his Das grosse Plasto-Dio-Dada-Drama (The great Plasto-Dio-Dada-Drama), originally shown in 1920 at the Berlin Erste internationale Dada-Messe (First International Dada Fair). Baader also produced sketches of visionary architecture
Visionary architecture
Visionary architecture is the name given to architecture which exists only on paper or which has visionary qualities. While the term ‘visionary’ suggests the idea of an idealistic, impractical or Utopian notion, it also depicts a mental picture produced by the imagination...
, which, in common with those of Hausmann and Yefim Golïshev
Yefim Golïshev
Yefim Golyshev was a Ukrainian-born painter and composer who was mainly active in Europe.After a successful career as a child prodigy violinist and the Reger Prize from Berlin's Stern Conservatory, Golyshev became one of the founding members of the Dadaist November Group, painting "anti-art"...
, sometimes invoked proto-Constructivist
Constructivism (art)
Constructivism was an artistic and architectural philosophy that originated in Russia beginning in 1919, which was a rejection of the idea of autonomous art. The movement was in favour of art as a practice for social purposes. Constructivism had a great effect on modern art movements of the 20th...
girderlike structures. In 1919 exactly a year after the abdication of the Kaiser, Baader printed calling cards proclaiming he was President of the Earth and Universe. He applied to teach at Gropius
Walter Gropius
Walter Adolph Georg Gropius was a German architect and founder of the Bauhaus School who, along with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier, is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modern architecture....
's Bauhaus
Bauhaus
', commonly known simply as Bauhaus, was a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. It operated from 1919 to 1933. At that time the German term stood for "School of Building".The Bauhaus school was founded by...
with these qualifications. An unimpressed Gropius declined.