Merz (art style)

Merz (art style) is a synonym for the more common expression and term Dada,[1] and traces back to Kurt Schwitters.

[3][4] The name Merz was generated by chance through a collage that incorporated the German word Kommerz (commerce).

The resulting word, which was nonsensical and spontaneously generated, was similar in origin and philosophy to the title of Dada.

One of the most significant Merz artifacts constructed by Schwitters is the Merzbau, a tower-sized sculpture assembled from refuse and ephemera that occupied the inside of his apartment and existed from 1927 to 1943, when it was destroyed by a British air raid during World War II.

[6] Kurt Schwitters, a pioneer in fusing collage and abstraction— influenced Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, the Fluxus movement and Joseph Beuys, too.