Panique, héritier de Dada

Abstract

Panique, heir of Dada. The “Panique” group was created in Paris in 1962 by Alejandro Jodorowsky, Fernando Arrabal and Roland Topor. It was a direct result of the surrealist movement but it was against the dogmatism of André Breton, preferring to return to the fundamentals of Dada and its spirit of revolt. This new group, which brought together people from several countries, chose the name “Panique”, from the mythical figure of Pan, the god of madness and confusion. Like “Dada”, it was not an usual term for an artistic movement. Moreover, Arrabal disapproved the term “movement” for the group, saying that it was more of a “way of being”, based on contradictions and humour. The theatre was its favourite place for expressing new artistic ideas. Jodorowsky began staging happenings in Mexico, like Dada’s performances at the Cabaret Voltaire. Their other plays were considered as festivities and ceremonies, trying to make the public react, particularly by using both poetical language and swear words. This desire to provoke is to be found in their cinema. The films of Jodorowsky and Topor are characterized by a mixture of genres and a play on expectations. So they chose controversial subjects, like Sade (in Marquis by Topor), or to highlight special effects (in The Holy Mountain by Jodorowsky). Through exaggeration and provocation in the arts, the “Panique” group used the methods of the surrealists but renewed them by expressing the spirit of Dada.