Futurism-1909

Futurism is an Italian Avant-Garde movement that was founded by an Italian poet by the name of Filippo Tommaso Marinetti.

A group of rebellious Italian writers and artists emerged, determined to celebrate industrialisation. These four Italian writers and artists believed that the machine age would result in an entirely new world.

Futurism rejected the old and applied the new. One artist that was the bigger father of Futurism was Filippo Tommaso Marinetti.

Filippo Tommaso Marinetti

Movement and Speed

Futurism captured new things, ideas of modernity, the sensation and aesthetics of speed, movement and industrial development. Marinetti and other artists during that time had the love of speed, technology and violence. Men had the triumphant over nature.

The name in Futurism explains that the movement is all about the future hence it rejects the past. A good example of how they rejected the past was explained in the Futurism Manifesto, written by Filippo Tomasso Marinetti himself. The Futurism manifesto was published in the Parisian newspaper Le Figaro, February 20th, 1909. The Manifesto used visual and lingual communication. 

What is a manifesto?
An art manifesto is a public declaration of the intentions, motives or views of an artist or artists movement. Basically what art should be, or what art is.


Figure 1: Marinetti, F.T, Le Figaro, 20th Feb 1909, Newspaper.
http://exhibitions.guggenheim.org/futurism/manifestos/

The image above is the image of the Le Figaro Futurism Manifesto, in the Manifesto each paragraph is about how the Futurists rejected the past and embraced the new, rejecting libraries, museums etc. The Le Figaro newspaper was the first Futurism manifesto done by Marinetti that explains the movement. 

Futurism wanted to break the status quo, the norm of doing the same thing over in the same manners. It wanted to break the boundaries of what was normal. To explain Futurism better this blog will be broken down into four categories: The rejection of the past, Glorification of the future, Aesthetics of speed and War.

Rejection of the past


Figure 2: Boccioni, U, Unique forms of Continuity in Space, 1913, Bronze.
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1990.38.3/

A good example of how the Futurists rejected the past and focused on the future was the sculpture made by Umberto Boccioni known as the Unique forms of continuity in space made in 1913.

 This sculpture is a representation of the mechanical power of the modern world, dynamism and speed. It seems to be the figure striding into the future, with the waves of speed around it. Boccioni believed that creating this work it will give the sense of shattering Italy's obsession with the classical past. 
Futurists embraced and aimed to celebrate the present. He presented Futurism through the emergence of radical, social, cultural and economic change.

Glorification of the Future 

Futurists felt that the conventional representation in art is incapable of capturing the essence of the new reality. Something new, bold and revolutionary was needed.

 Glorification of the Future for the Futurists was very important because futurism was all about the future. They represented what was new and what needed to be done for the new. A very good example that represents The glory of the future is The City Rises made in 1910 by Umberto Boccioni. 


Figure 3: Boccioni, U, The City Rises, 1910, Oil on canvas.
http://www.theartstory.org/artist-boccioni-umberto-artworks.htm#pnt_2

Boccioni captured the elements of cubism only in 1911, he used Cubism as a tool to make a Futuristic painting. In this artwork, Boccioni used the fundamentals of dynamism, harsh colours of reds and purples and the use of diagonal and straight lines. This painting also conveys the feeling of war. The people and the horse are blurred out showing elements of movement and speed rather than the buildings at the back, which are more structured.   

Aesthetics of Speed 

To show speed Futurism used angular forms(repetition of forms) diagonal lines bright and contrasting colours to heighten the energy. The use of dynamism was very important in this category. Juxtapositioning colours next to one another in an artwork conveys a feeling of speed. Filippo Tommaso Marinetti stated that a speeding automobile is more beautiful than the statue of Winged Victory of Samothrace.

War

The Futurists enthusiastically looked forward to for war, Marinetti felt that the only way to achieve art with the war was going to war in order to destroy everything in the past and make space for the new. 


Figure 4: Carra, C, Funeral of the Anarchist Galli, 1910-11, Oil on canvas.
https://www.moma.org/collection/works/79225?locale=en

The image above is a good example of Futurism and war. War is depicted in this painting through using the characteristics of using lines and contrasting colours, the painting looks abstract like a painting any cubist would do. In the painting, it looks like the characters are in the war, some look dead some look like they are fighting holding flags. Through the colours that are used the image depicts war because the colours are fighting with one another as well.

Characteristics   

Cubism

Cubism had an immense impact on the Futurism. Same as the Cubism, Futurism painted images through the use of different angles.  The simultaneity of view is what the futurists used to paint some of their paintings. The Futurists wanted to represent the modern experience and wanted all their painting to serve some sense of sensations. 

Unfortunately, Futurism was not recognised with a distinctive style, it borrowed aspects from the Symbolism and Divisionism. In 1911 Futurism emerged a distinctive style, then is was influenced by the Cubism.

Chronophotography 

The use of photography merged, this allowed the fusion of object and space. Force or energy is the basic principle for all phenomena. 


Graphics and Typography 



Figure 5: Marinetti, F.T, Book cover for Zang Tumb Tumb, 1914, Book cover.
https://www.learner.org/courses/globalart/work/192/index.html

Filippo Tommaso Marinetti and his followers produced emotional and explosive visual poetry. At the end, Futurism did not write poetry the way it was written with rhythm and syntax.

 Through the use of typography, the futurists rejected harmony as a desirable design quality, used three or four colours of ink and up to twenty typefaces. Italics used to indicate the rapid succession of sounds and boldface for violent noises and the increase of expressive power or words(how they saw the words was important). 
The use of free dynamic words. Their typography depicted speed and noise, where there is energy there is sound. The speed and noise were used in their typography.

Marinetti attempted to renew the style of poetry. He declared a new revolution. It was time to be done with traditional syntax and to use words in freedom. On the book cover of Zang Tumb Tumb the smaller the words got the smaller softer, we would say it as a sound. 

The futurists celebrated the occasion of the end of war. their visual poems were suited to capturing the experience of the modern battlefield with its chaotic emotions and man-made sounds. Later with Futurism typographic poems became difficult to understand the reason of breaking away from using syntax. 

Old Futurism



Figure 6: Deparo, F, Le Cycliste traverse la ville, 1945.
http://www.veniceclayartists.com/futurist-fervor/

The above image is an image of a futurism artwork, the aesthetic of speed, the glorification of the future and the rejection of the past. The man on the bike is speeding into the future, running away from the past, this is shown from the waves of him while he is riding his bike.


New Futurism 


Figure 7: i, Robot Futuristic movie.
http://img.moviepostershop.com/i-robot-movie-poster-2004-1010479592.jpg

This is a good example of a futuristic movie, the movie is all about dynamism, speed and the future. It is a movie that depicts the future and rejects what happened in the past. In 2035 robots fill public positions. In the future robots get to replace humans in terms of work and position, they are faster, smarter and engineered to work hand in hand with the human race to better things for the future.  Not only was futurism an avant-garde movement but when it got to be a past movement to a point where people forgot or even don't know about it, futurism later featured in movies. Movies like i, Robot, Metropolis, Splice etc.    

As said in the blog Futurism is a very dynamic and became a distinctive movement, however, futurism was doomed to failure due to not knowing what the future holds. If the future holds something different, to what they didn't expect then they will be regarded as the past. They are the past right now.

Links to find images and websites:

http://exhibitions.guggenheim.org/futurism/manifestos/

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1990.38.3/

http://www.theartstory.org/artist-boccioni-umberto-artworks.htm#pnt_2

https://www.moma.org/collection/works/79225?locale=en

https://www.learner.org/courses/globalart/work/192/index.html

http://www.veniceclayartists.com/futurist-fervor/

http://img.moviepostershop.com/i-robot-movie-poster-2004-1010479592.jpg






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