Musings on 'The Founding and Manifesto of Futurism'

"REVOLT! ANGER! SPEED! TECHNOLOGY!" These are the main talking points of F.T. Marinetti's Futurist Manifesto, which at points seems dramatic to the point of hilarity. It is an artistic call to arms, a declaration of war against the past. Perhaps the tone of his manifesto is summed up perfectly when he says, "Except in struggle, there is no more beauty."

As artists trying to be in the avante-garde, the Futurists are looking for the progression of art, rather than looking to the past to see what is "good." They want to create their own "good." They are angry at the museums for harboring the art of the past, which, to them, keeps them stuck in the past. They are looking for a constant progression.

It strikes me as hypocritical that they oppose woman, though. They talk of a progression, and of new ideas, but they want to exclude woman? That seems to be a very 19th century idea, not an almost mid-20th century one. I would think that excluding the female would just be going back to the very past that they scorn.

It seems that they are bitter over Italy's place in the art world. "Too long has Italy been a deal in second-hand clothes." I guess since Italy has such a rich history is art, they feel overwhelmed and want to stop being judged by their past.

They want to embrace the new technology, such as cars, and use their advantages. point of mentioning speed, which just from knowing a little bit about futurism from various art history classes, definitely shows in their work. The sculpture to the left, Unique Forms of Continuity in Space by Umberto Boccioni, tries to convey the motion and speed of a walking man in relation to futurist ideas.

To get a better idea of what Futurism actually looks like, this website shows many examples of some Futurism work, and some not part of the movement but inspired by nonetheless. Most of the has a look very similar to Cubism without the hard edges and with color.