The founders of Futurism were
violent, reckless, and misogynistic.
The 1909 artistic movement they created in Italy condemned public
institutions for learning:
Museums,
cemeteries! Truly identical in their sinister juxtaposition of bodies that do
not know each other. Public dormitories where you sleep side by side forever
with beings you hate or do not know. Reciprocal ferocity of the painters and
sculptors who murder each other in the same museum with blows of line and
color. (F.T. Martinetti, “The Foundation and Manifesto of Futurism”)
The Futurists’ called for a new
form of art, an art that would not seek to reproduce reality. Their work “…is only creation!” Creations such as F.T. Martinetti’s
drawing Vive la France and Umberto
Boccioni’s sculpture Unique Forms of
Continuity in Space (above) are consistent with the Futurist agenda. For example, Boccioni’s figure is
infused with atmospheric elements, a key component the artist outlines in his
“Technical Manifesto of Futurist Sculpture.” Unique Forms of
Continuity in Space exemplifies the Futurist theory that “the environment
must be part of the plastic block which is a world in itself with its own
laws.” Futurist creations are quite interesting, despite their aggressive and pugnacious approach to art
theory. I find it ironic, and slightly
satisfying, that much of their work wound up in the museums that they
abhorred!
An English translation of the
Futurist Manifesto-
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