What are the main differences between the Dada and Surrealist art movements?

The Dada and Surrealist art movements were both part of the modern art and avant-garde movements of the early 20th century, but they had distinct differences in their styles and philosophies. Dada emerged in the early 1910s in Zurich, Switzerland and was characterized by its rejection of traditional aesthetic and social values, embracing chaos and irrationality. Surrealism, which originated in the 1920s in Paris, France, was also anti-traditional and anti-rational, but its approach was more structured and focused on the exploration of the unconscious mind.

Dada artists sought to undermine the conventions of art and society, often through performance art, photomontage, and found objects. Surrealist artists, on the other hand, sought to unlock the power of the subconscious mind through techniques such as automatism, dream imagery, and juxtaposition. Dada was a reaction to the horrors of World War I, while Surrealism was a response to the trauma of the war and the rise of fascism in Europe.