What is Dada to Pete Cerneaz?

Dada continues to challenge established ideas about art. The ready-made disrupted the notion of the artist as a skilled maker, while the movement itself emerged from the shock and absurdity of a world fractured by war.

Preparing for this exhibition in 2026, I have found myself looking at my work through the lens of Dada for the first time. It has been unexpectedly revealing.

I’ve realised that I’m the sort of person who, when I see a fire, reaches for a bucket of petrol rather than water. Not to destroy, but out of curiosity—to see what hidden truths the flames might expose.

Today I see capitalism extracting physical, cultural, spiritual and financial wealth from our communities while carefully managing the images it projects. My work interrupts those images. By appropriating and subverting familiar brands, I hope to expose the contradictions they ask us not to notice.

The original Dadaists responded to a world that had become irrational. I recognise that same impulse today. Rather than offering solutions, my work embraces contradiction, humour and discomfort as ways of questioning the systems we have come to accept.

Could only be Karl. I recognise your dancing style. Xx