Futurism by the bay
‘Futurism was an international art movement founded in Italy in 1909. It was (and is) a refreshing contrast to the weepy sentimentalism of Romanticism. The Futurists loved speed, noise, machines, pollution, and cities; they embraced the exciting new world that was then upon them rather than hypocritically enjoying the modern world’s comforts while loudly denouncing the forces that made them possible. Fearing and attacking technology has become almost second nature to many people today; the Futurist manifestos show us an alternative philosophy. Too bad they were all Fascists.’ -Kim Scarborough’s Guide to Futurism
Parole in Libertà book cover (1932), found via laura@popdesign
This year is the 100th anniversary of F. T. Marinetti’s Manifesto of Futurism (1909) – and San Francisco has celebrations planned October 14th thru 18th.
Titled Metal + Machine + Manifesto = Futurism’s First 100 Years – events include a Fortunato Depero exhibition at the Italian Cultural Institute, make your own print of Aldo Palazzeschi’s futurist poem ‘Let me have my fun’ (1910) at The San Francisco Center for the Book, a concert, a Futurist banquet, talks at the SFMOMA and much, much, more.
[1] To start, check out the event list here.
[2] For more about Futurism, visit the Italian Futurism site.
[3] Here’s some Futurist fonts at P22. And the Futurismo soundtrack to go with them.
[4] I’d be lying if I said the Geometrique version of Jeanne Moderno didn’t have Futurist roots. Here’s a direct link to this particular font.
[5] Here’s a post from this very blog, showcasing Marinetti’s Futurist Manifesto interpreted as film, and a collection of early avant garde shorts.
Marinetti
[6] And as a kicker . . . here’s a cool article comparing Futurism to Punk, by Karen Pinkus.
Futurism was very Italian and over the top. And yeah, too bad they were actually Fascists.
Fortunato Depero, Depero Futurista 1913-1927 (1927)
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But is it really true that futurism is to say fascism?
Recent studies, designed to shed light on this point thus far too much for granted, seem to confirm that the futurists consider how artists of the fascist propaganda is a way too easy to settle the issue. More than declared states of ideology or political persuasion, we should rather speak of attitudes towards life by members of the movement. The future, especially during the period before the First World War, are an expression of a malaise and a challenge that was common to society and even fascism initially expressed. From here, probably, the basic misunderstanding that the two positions are equivalent, as also from the state interventionism of Marinetti, and his incitement to war as a “hygiene of the world.”
In reality there is never part of any of the artists directly involved in politics. The war, for the movement, is intended as a general attitude towards life, as irreducibility in respect of conformism, of conservation. The intervention of Marinetti, linked to the historical period, and the application of a quota mentality broader pacification of existence that sees an inability to progress and innovation.
Bombastic attitude of the Futurists, their acts of force and their provocative intransigence, have often been read as an expression of “machismo” and antidemocracy. In fact none of them.,even Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, despite the personal friendship with Mussolini and his appointment to the academic in Italy in 1929, he joined the Fascist Party.
4. Jeanne Moderno IS VERY FUTURIST FONT!