"Merz"
Schwitters published his essay “Merz” in 1920. This text outlines his new style and philosophy, Merz, as well as identifies his aim for the Gesamtkunstwerk. The Gesamtkunstwerk, or the total work of art, is a concept from German Romanticism that envisions the disintegration of artistic boundaries. In Schwitters’ text, this is seen in his repeated call for the “Merz stage,” the Gesamtkunstwerk that he hoped to emerge from his Merz practice.
