FUTURISM
In the 1920's and 1930's the term Futurism was loosely used to describe a wide variety of aggressively modern styles in art and literature. The Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti first used the term in 1909 for a movement founded and led by himself.
Merinetti and associates
Futurism becomes the first deliberately organized, self-conscious art movement of the twentieth century. France, Germany, Russia and the Americas quickly adopted the movement, appealing to all who had tired of romanticism, decadence and sentimentality, desirous and lean towards something more vigorous and robust, something in keeping with the Machine Age and modern movements. Speed, noise, machines, transportation, communication, information and all the transient impressions of life in the modern city intoxicated Marinetti and his followers. They despised tame, bourgeois virtues and tastes, and above everything else, loathed the cult of the past. They created a series of manifestos (the believes behind a movement) to designed to shock and provoke the public, during this process they. formulated styles of painting, music, sculpture, theatre, poetry, architecture, cooking, clothing, and furniture. (http://www.deluxxe.com/futurism/futintr1.html)
Fillipo Merinetti Montagne+Vallate+Strade*Joffre, 1915
This was an Italian avant-garde art movement that took speed, technology and modernity as its inspiration. Futurism portrayed the dynamic character of 20th century life, it glorified war and the machine age and favoured the growth of Fascism.
Marinetti's futurist manifesto, published 100 years ago
(Left) Boccioni’s Study for “Empty and Full Abstracts of a Head” (1912) and (facing page) Unique Forms of Continuity in Space (1913)
Futurism was at its strongest from 1909 when the first futurism manifesto appeared from Fillippo Marinetti until the end of the First World War Futurism was considered a unique movement because it was known to be a self-invented movement.
The idea of Futurism came first, followed by a fanfare of publicity. Marinetti's manifesto, printed on the front page of Le Figaro on the February 20, 1909, was considered as bombastic and inflammatory in tone – a section from the manifesto article "set fire to the library shelves... flood the museums" - suggesting that he was more interested in shocking the public than exploring Futurism's themes.
Boccioni and fellow Futurist Gino Severini studied under Giacomo Balla just after the turn of the century. Years later, Italian writer Filippo Tommaso Marinetti united these artists under the banner of his Futurist Manifesto to worship at the altar of technology and relentless, mechanized speed. Works such as Elasticity (above, 1912) illustrate how Boccioni saw the twentieth century as a huge explosion of energy and expansion. The duty of the modern artist was to celebrate that technology and give it artistic form.
Painters in the movement tried to portray as quoted the "synthesis of what one remembers and of what one sees", and to capture what they called the 'force lines' of objects. These interpretations of motion influenced many painters, including Marcel Duchamp and Robert Delaunay, and such movements as Cubism and Russian Constructivism. (http://www.artmovements.co.uk/futurism.htm)
Futurism was presented as a modernist movement celebrating the technological and future era. The car, the plane, the industrial town were representations of the motion in modern life and the technological triumph of man over nature. Some of these ideas, specially the use of modern materials and technique, were taken up later by Marcel Duchamp (French, 1887-1968), the cubist, the constructivist and the Dadaist.
Futurism was inspired by the development of Cubism and went far beyond its techniques. The Futurist painters made the rhythm through the repetitions of lines. They were also inspired by some photographic experiments, they were breaking motion into smaller sequences, and using the wide range of angles within a given time-frame all aimed to incorporate the dimension of time within the picture. Brilliant colors and flowing brush strokes also additionally were creating the illusion of movement. Futurism influenced many other 20th century art movements, including Art Deco, Vorticism, Constructivism and Surrealism.
Although futurism as an art movement is considered extinct since the 1920s, powerful echoes
of Marinetti’s thought still exists in today’s modern culture and art. (http://www.huntfor.com/arthistory/C20th/futurism.htm)
A section from Merinetti’s Manifesto
We intent to love of danger, the habit of energy and fearlessness. Courage, audacity, and revolt will be essential elements of our poetry…We affirm that the world’s magnificence has been enriched by a new beauty: the beauty of a speed…a roaring car that seems to ride on grapeshot is more beautiful than the Victory of samothrace…Except in struggle, there is no more beauty. No work without an aggressive character can be a masterpiece.
The manifesto voiced enthusiasm for war, the machine age, speed and modern life. Merinetti and his followers created emotionally charged poetry that defied correct syntax and grammar. Well known followers of futurism include Giovanni Papini (1881-1956) whom began the publication of the journal Lacerba in France and typographic designs. Two dominant conditions noise and speed of the 20th century was expressed in futurist poetry. Merinetti also wrote that a man whom ha witnessed an explosion does not stop to connect his sentences grammatically but expresses his words to his listeners.
On 11 of February 1910, five artist from the futurists movement published a Manifesto of the futurist painters, Luigi Russolo (1885-1947), Umberto Boccioni (1882-1916), Carlo Carra (1881-19160, Giocamma Bella (1871-19580 AND Gino Severini (1884-1966) declared their intent to destroy the cult of the past. This also included to elevate all attempts of originality, regard art critics as useless and dangerous and not to use any concept or themes that have been used in the past.
Forternando Depero (1892-1960) produced a dynamic body of poster that contributed typographic and advertising designs. He shifted from socialism to futurism in 1913. in 1927 Depro published his Depero futurista. This was a compilation of his typographic elements, experiments, advertisements, tapestry designs and other works. He also did numerous works like magazine covers and print advertisements for Vanity Fair, Movie Makers, Sparks. (Meggs’ History of graphic design)
Futurist Typography & the Liberated Text
May 9th, 2011 — Posted by Francis O Donnell Smith
Overview
Futurist Typography & The Liberated Text is an excellent read; one which looks at the developments of early Futurist typography and it’s practitioners. Amongst many, Filippo Marinetti’s Futurist Manifesto of 1909 called for change with the outdated assumptions concerning language and aesthetics. Typography was caught up in this major rethink.(http://www.typetoken.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/ftlt_1.jpg)
Thus I conclude that futurism was a major influence for other movements and its violent revolutionary techniques war adopted by movements like Dadaists, Constructivism and De Stjil. The futurist’s movement initiated the publications of manifestos.
“Carica di Lancieri” (1915), by Umberto Boccioni
( http://artblogbybob.blogspot.com/2008/10/those-who-stay.html)
