Symphonie diagonale

SSE Art Initiative now proudly presents Viking Eggeling (1880-1925) - the most famous avant-garde Swede in the international DADA movement.

As many young artists still do, Eggeling hung out in Berlin during the turbulent Weimar years and was fascinated with the magic of new media, specifically film.

In Symphonie diagonale he did things with very simple animation techniques and shapes, cut out in aluminium foil, which no one had done before him. After the horrors of the World War I, the young artists felt a Global Challenge to go beyond old corrupt management logics. A better and more beautiful world could be organized from scratch. DADA meant skipping traditions and “just do it”, much in an entrepreneurial direct action mood of soft anarchism. 

For Symphonie diagonale Eggeling teamed up with German animator Erna Niemeyer (1901-1996, later Ré Soupault). Ré Soupault also worked as a fashion designer, writer, filmmaker, and she is now regarded as one of the most important photographers of the 20th century. 

Moderna Museet has graciously granted permission to SSE Art Initiative to show classics from its art film collection of which Symphonie diagonale is the third installment.