The Founding and Manifesto of Futurism - Essay Example

Abstract The concept of art has been in existence for quite a long time but the introduction of the futurism movement started a new culture. The movement was inspired by violence, war and the aspect of modernity. This was incorporated into art bringing out the aspect of life in art, this is a culture that embraced by most artists and it continued to developed with time. Hence, this paper looks at how various artists approached the new culture and the specific factors they observed. Some of them used the art of motion and speed while others preferred the use of human beings. Innovation was a big part of the transformation process for the art. The artists who got inspired by the futurism movement had a lot to offer to the new culture and this was a very important factor. The main aim of these changes was to get rid of the art that existed in the past, which was quite old fashioned and did not embrace the concept of life. This therefore meant that the All these aspects are reflected on considering the introduction of urban life, which played a big role in the implementation of the new culture and in turn influenced many artists. Futurism Futurism is a form of the modern art movement which began in Italy1. The Italian artist first coined the term futurism in 1909 and the word became popular all over the world2. It was a form of painting and the making of sculptures. Its main purpose was to make an expression of movement and create dynamics which were both artificial and natural in form. It became part of the international artwork make it possible for artist in some part of the world to use it. In that time, art was not composed of speed, machines and noise. But with the futurists, such things like machines, noise, speed, cities and pollution became part of art. This is what they used to create the essence of life in the art. Such things would make the art works appear as if they are real life situations. Fillipo Marinetti is known to be the behind the futurism movement and was referred to as the Italian fascist. In 1908, his fame begun when he wrote the futurist manifesto and it got published in the most prestigious French Daily. The words in the manifesto regarding art were quite catchy and got him recognized. Marinetti referred to art as something filed with violence, cruelty and injustice. This brought about a new reflection on the unity of life and art, which was later adopted by other artists. His love for violence was evident as he declared it openly and became a strong supporter of Benito Mussolini. His love for speed was evident as well as he even had an accident in 1908 and he claims that this made him a new man. His new passion was driven by war, violence and scorn for woman. However, the futurist manifesto was the centre of attention as it got debated all over Europe with the famous quote being “Art…can be nothing but violence, cruelty and injustice”. His fight for what he believed in influenced other artists as well and this helped the futurism movement grow with time. Futurism was founded in the work of the art needed to embrace life and modernity3. This was supposed to include the use of such things like technology to create a sense of the new culture in the art. Most people would just do the art for the purpose of just creating things4. However, the innovation of the futurism was a major step in including life in all the art forms. There is increase in technology which has become the centre of the modern art. Technology has resulted in the increased application of such which is most common in the urban life. There has been increased application of the art in various places and this has resulted in very many things which are of very high importance to the world. The origin of these things was in the manifesto of futurism which was there even up to the end of the First World War. The modern life was the major catalysts of the change in the art form. The modern urban life was characterized by the speed, dynamism and restlessness. The art lacked these in the past. These made the artists to get fascinated by such things in the modern life which resulted in their inclusion in the art. As a result, there were such elements in the art as the modern life was. To attract other artists, the members of the futurism decided to revoke the old art works which were more static, less fascinating and no speed. These were the characteristics of the art before this time. Inclusion of such things led to the fascination of the people with the artwork and thus resulted in more people being interested in it. It was thus a very important step in the world of art in creating attention and attracting people to the works of art. It is this creation of life in the artwork. This was mainly interesting as the futurists were not looking for public attention but rather for the birth of a new culture. The urban modern life was characterized by appear of such things as the trains, buses and means of communication with others. The presence of such things in the modern life especially in the time of the world war one changed the way people were living and how they were associating with each other. However, before the introduction of such things, the world was almost still, with not much speed. This is why the art was more still as it was to show such things. After the urban life, the artists had to change their art to the present situation in the world. Dynamic world had to be included in the art work so that the new art of including life in it could be embraced. It also made people get chance to get interested in art who were not interested in, as the art was working according to the modern lifestyle that was slowly being implemented. In world like Italy, the modern art become more plastic than literal dynamism. Artists create pictures, as more like real life and create sculptures of buildings, animals and human beings, bring real life to the art. Giacomo Balla, 1871 Italian painter, was a member of the futurist manifesto, who begun to select the new vocabulary, the iron network of speedy communication, transatlantic liners, dreadnoughts, airplanes and city life.5In 1912 he worked on three canvases with the visualization consecutive phases of movement in space: Leash in motion, Girl x Balcony and Rhythms of Bow.6 These series of paintings could be clear examples of depicting three dimensional which looks very lively and more likely to attract people to watch it by representing movement and speed. His introduction of graffiti into art set his style apart from other artists and this was inspired by the futurism movement as well. One of the Italian futurist artist/architect, who joined the futurist movement called Antonio Sant'Elia 1888, his works also depicts three dimensional form of real life. He was the movement’s only architect and died before he build anything but he left behind him manifesto of futurist architecture, containing ideas which were to have an important influence on 20th century.7 Both pictures named The New City (1914) represent its detailed city of the future. The idea of the New City, designed to serve the needs of modern industrial society, was naturally dear to the futurists’ heart.8 They are also more like in real life building brought in to art. These images were how Antonio imagined the industrialized cities looked like; he expressed these views in his manifesto, which was referred to as Futurist Architecture. In his manifesto he states “the decorative value of Futurist architecture depends solely on the use and original arrangement of raw or bare or violently colored materials9,” this explains his vision of the city and how industrialization modified it. His vision of the industrialized city did not compose of individual buildings but of a mass of well designed buildings placed strategically together. The Futurism movement was mainly focused on recognizing modern features in art and slowly getting rid of the old art. They did this by incorporating life in to their art. However, they viewed the concept of human differently and used animals as well as humans to bring out their own definition of life. They could not have been termed as human because they embraced violence, war and scone for woman. Hence, looking at their art one cannot compare the definition of human to what the artists of the futurism movement used. The old generation people were more interested in form of animals or the plant humanized. Although this was highly valued in the old time, the new generation people failed to recognize it and led to the introduction of the new form of the art. Increase of technology came with new urban life. The new generation values the technology and interest more in the value of technology in them. The technology replaced every part of the old life. Technology changed the way people communicate, changed the way people associate and the way things were done. The world was becoming more aggressive and things were being done faster.10 The technology was used first by the people who were of the urban origin. These are the people who had access to the urban life and other things present in the urban areas. They were able to get the new things immediately. The urban areas were looking forward to making work easier and making things be done faster. This resulted in works of art which were more speedy and dynamic. The urban population had technology were able to make the work of art easier and create artwork with few problems and less waste of time. Artworks which were previously done manually later changed to be done by the incorporation of machines such as cameras and video cameras. In the traditional old life, making an image of a person needed one to use his hand and draw an image with paintings to reflect the face of the person he or she wants to make an image of. However, the adventure of the cameras in the modern urban life led to the easy way of making an image. A person will not be seated down for hours trying to create an image of an individual but would just take a photo which will then be translated on a paper. This made the work of heart easier in passing its message. As a result, most of the artists got interested in this form of technology in an attempt to make them enjoy the benefits of technology11. Photography played a big role in the introduction of modern art and one of the great photographers was Eadweard Muybridge. His art in photography was quite unique as it introduced the concept of motion in photography. On of his great works was The Horse in Motion, where the photograph of a horse is set in motion. This kind of work continued to inspire the work of other photographers such as; Marcel Duchamp who is well known for his photography of Nude Descending down a Staircase, which just like the early works of Eadweard, was photography in motion. The woman seems to be descending down a staircase and this was also inspiration for other photographers as well. Ancient life was very silent. It was composed of artworks which were very silent or would make minimal noises. 12People were not interested in the playing of music and would not condone artworks which appreciated noise. The world was like a place where noise was not welcome. After the world war one, things started changing. The world started appreciating noise. There was little recognition of the artworks which were as silent as the previous world. The urban life took root in most places and people started congregating in the towns to ensure that they serve common interests. The introduction of technology meant that machines would be in high use and this generated noisy art. The futurism movement embraced this and used it in their new art works. In conclusion, the modern art has personalized much to fit in the modern life. Most of the people have become urbanized and the popular of the artworks must be in a manner to make please them. The artworks of the old world were less dynamic than the current ones. “Dynamism” was a magical for the futurists13 and people in past. They did not comprise of the speed and the restlessness which is common in the current world. As a result, many artists changed their style of art to fit in the current setting of the world. This is to ensure that the artwork is more human in nature and provides an impression which looks almost like real life. It is for these reasons that artwork has change so much to conform to the modern world. References Webmuseum, 14th October 2002. Futurism. http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/glo/futurism/ Kim Scarborough, 14 June 2002.futurism http://www.unknown.nu/futurism/ Marinetti, F.T. 1913. The Founding and Manifesto of Futurism. http://www.unknown.nu/futurism/manifesto.html Futurism, Politics Performing and Movement, Cristiana J. Taylor 1974,1979(pp.17) Giacomo Balla, Division of Futurism, 1871-1912, Susan Barnes Robinson(pp.88) Futurism, Jane Rye1972(pp.100-101) Futurism, The Museum of Modern art, New York, Joshua C.Taylor,1927(pp.11-109) Giacomo Balla and Fortunato Depero (2001). Futurist Reconstruction of the Universe. http://www.unknown.nu/futurism/reconstruction.html Antonio Sant‘Elia, (2004). http://www.unknown.nu/futurism/architecture.html Read More

This brought about a new reflection on the unity of life and art, which was later adopted by other artists. His love for violence was evident as he declared it openly and became a strong supporter of Benito Mussolini. His love for speed was evident as well as he even had an accident in 1908 and he claims that this made him a new man. His new passion was driven by war, violence and scorn for woman. However, the futurist manifesto was the centre of attention as it got debated all over Europe with the famous quote being “Art…can be nothing but violence, cruelty and injustice”.

His fight for what he believed in influenced other artists as well and this helped the futurism movement grow with time. Futurism was founded in the work of the art needed to embrace life and modernity3. This was supposed to include the use of such things like technology to create a sense of the new culture in the art. Most people would just do the art for the purpose of just creating things4. However, the innovation of the futurism was a major step in including life in all the art forms. There is increase in technology which has become the centre of the modern art.

Technology has resulted in the increased application of such which is most common in the urban life. There has been increased application of the art in various places and this has resulted in very many things which are of very high importance to the world. The origin of these things was in the manifesto of futurism which was there even up to the end of the First World War. The modern life was the major catalysts of the change in the art form. The modern urban life was characterized by the speed, dynamism and restlessness.

The art lacked these in the past. These made the artists to get fascinated by such things in the modern life which resulted in their inclusion in the art. As a result, there were such elements in the art as the modern life was. To attract other artists, the members of the futurism decided to revoke the old art works which were more static, less fascinating and no speed. These were the characteristics of the art before this time. Inclusion of such things led to the fascination of the people with the artwork and thus resulted in more people being interested in it.

It was thus a very important step in the world of art in creating attention and attracting people to the works of art. It is this creation of life in the artwork. This was mainly interesting as the futurists were not looking for public attention but rather for the birth of a new culture. The urban modern life was characterized by appear of such things as the trains, buses and means of communication with others. The presence of such things in the modern life especially in the time of the world war one changed the way people were living and how they were associating with each other.

However, before the introduction of such things, the world was almost still, with not much speed. This is why the art was more still as it was to show such things. After the urban life, the artists had to change their art to the present situation in the world. Dynamic world had to be included in the art work so that the new art of including life in it could be embraced. It also made people get chance to get interested in art who were not interested in, as the art was working according to the modern lifestyle that was slowly being implemented.

In world like Italy, the modern art become more plastic than literal dynamism. Artists create pictures, as more like real life and create sculptures of buildings, animals and human beings, bring real life to the art. Giacomo Balla, 1871 Italian painter, was a member of the futurist manifesto, who begun to select the new vocabulary, the iron network of speedy communication, transatlantic liners, dreadnoughts, airplanes and city life.5In 1912 he worked on three canvases with the visualization consecutive phases of movement in space: Leash in motion, Girl x Balcony and Rhythms of Bow.

6 These series of paintings could be clear examples of depicting three dimensional which looks very lively and more likely to attract people to watch it by representing movement and speed.

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