Back to futurism?
Exactly one hundred years ago, 20 February 1909 to be precise, the Italian dilettante and litterateur FT Marinetti splurged across the front page of Le Figaro his vision of a new art, politics and life. "Let us give ourselves to the Unknown, not in desperation, but to replenish the deep wells of the Absurd!" he proclaimed in launching his Futurist Manifesto.
The article, published in Italian, includes the 11 points of the manifesto, plus accompanying narrative of how it came out. Today it reads like a concoction penned by Jack Nicholson's Joker in Batman and Toad of Toad Hall. The futurists are to reject the overbearing weight of Italy and Europe's classical and renaissance heritage – museums and galleries are to be trashed and torn down. The sensation of velocity and momentum by men, beasts and machines are to be celebrated and consummated in towering acts of aggression and destruction – above all in the orgasm of mechanised war.
In the arts, futurism would build on the revolution of cubism, and in performance Marinetti and his pals point the way to dadaism and the theatre of the absurd. However there is nothing absurd about the enduring and disastrous effect of the futurists' bombast on the politics of Italy, birthplace of most of them. It helped propel the country into two world wars. The link between futurism, proto-fascism of the first world war and then fascism itself is a delicate question. Most acknowledge the association, but supporters tend to try to overlook it. It is hard to take the futurism elements out of early fascism, as it is to take the fascism out of futurism in its latter stages.
The emphasis on violence and virility, the triumph of will – taken from Nietzsche – and the destiny of force in futurist writings reads like a prophecy for the century to come – Eric Hobsbawm's short 20th century, an "age of extremes" with industrial war on a global scale.
"We will glorify war – the world's only hygiene – militarism, the destructive gesture of freedom-bringers, beautiful ideas worth dying for and scorn of woman," says proposition Nine of the Manifesto. "A racing car whose hood is adorned with great pipes, like serpents of explosive breath – a roaring car that seems to ride on grapeshot more beautiful that the Victory of Samothrace."
Futurism in all its aspects and effects should not be lightly dismissed as one of the weirder footnotes of 20th century cultural and political history. It still has the capacity to amaze and shock; and it still has many adherents. The messages of Marinetti and his allies gained traction in times of great popular tension and privation. As we now enter the first great recession of the 21st century, could a new variant futurism catch on?
The futurists have left some of the most arresting images of early 20th century art – and they are now on display in a series of exhibitions across Europe...
Read entire article at Guardian (UK)
The article, published in Italian, includes the 11 points of the manifesto, plus accompanying narrative of how it came out. Today it reads like a concoction penned by Jack Nicholson's Joker in Batman and Toad of Toad Hall. The futurists are to reject the overbearing weight of Italy and Europe's classical and renaissance heritage – museums and galleries are to be trashed and torn down. The sensation of velocity and momentum by men, beasts and machines are to be celebrated and consummated in towering acts of aggression and destruction – above all in the orgasm of mechanised war.
In the arts, futurism would build on the revolution of cubism, and in performance Marinetti and his pals point the way to dadaism and the theatre of the absurd. However there is nothing absurd about the enduring and disastrous effect of the futurists' bombast on the politics of Italy, birthplace of most of them. It helped propel the country into two world wars. The link between futurism, proto-fascism of the first world war and then fascism itself is a delicate question. Most acknowledge the association, but supporters tend to try to overlook it. It is hard to take the futurism elements out of early fascism, as it is to take the fascism out of futurism in its latter stages.
The emphasis on violence and virility, the triumph of will – taken from Nietzsche – and the destiny of force in futurist writings reads like a prophecy for the century to come – Eric Hobsbawm's short 20th century, an "age of extremes" with industrial war on a global scale.
"We will glorify war – the world's only hygiene – militarism, the destructive gesture of freedom-bringers, beautiful ideas worth dying for and scorn of woman," says proposition Nine of the Manifesto. "A racing car whose hood is adorned with great pipes, like serpents of explosive breath – a roaring car that seems to ride on grapeshot more beautiful that the Victory of Samothrace."
Futurism in all its aspects and effects should not be lightly dismissed as one of the weirder footnotes of 20th century cultural and political history. It still has the capacity to amaze and shock; and it still has many adherents. The messages of Marinetti and his allies gained traction in times of great popular tension and privation. As we now enter the first great recession of the 21st century, could a new variant futurism catch on?
The futurists have left some of the most arresting images of early 20th century art – and they are now on display in a series of exhibitions across Europe...