Loved it. A hundred years ago, the theme of speed defined the art movement that became futurism. There’s a corollary, or at least a parallel with Google and everything now in digital. Against that, the works focused on the street, the relationship with Cubism, and the joyful nature of the cabaret below still make it human despite the harsh technological focus and fascist connections.
Gino Severini, The Dance of the Pan-Pan at the "Monico", 1909-1911 / 1959-1960
Found this which attempts to define futurism:
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.
It’s also interesting for the manifestos, particularly on gender and how the movement emerged and was challenged by Vorticism. Go see it before it finishes on the 20th of Sept.
Synopsis that grabbed me on Marinetti:
“Marinetti was a master of publicity, and his writings and dealings with the public and press set the tone for the controversies surrounding Futurism. The movement was defined by the manifestoes and books that he published, which were distributed in many languages. As well as art, Marinetti wanted to revolutionise writing itself. He promoted the idea of ‘words-in-freedom’, liberating language through radical poetic and typographical techniques: ‘Condensed metaphors. Telegraphic images. Maximum vibrations. Nodes of thought.’
I became a member of Tate earlier in the month and it’s a great thing if you’re in London a chunk of the time, need somewhere to hang out, snack, eat, meet friends, use members room (closed in Sept; prefer walking about chatting personally most of the time). Great value as an alternative to a membership of a private club.
Heading to Liverpool in November for Reds v Man City so hoping to check out Joyous Machines and Mark Rothko’s The Seagram Murals at Tate Liverpool.
I agree: Futurism itself was a great movement that tried to embrace all art forms. But the Tate’s show was an abysmal failure to live up to that ideal… where was the architecture of Sant’Elia, the music of Russolo, the photography, the cinema… ?
And it was so badly laid out, people were literally wandering around looking lost. I think the Tate let Futurism down.
My review is at:
http://journeymanconsultant.wordpress.com/2009/08/03/future-imperfect-tate-modern%e2%80%99s-futurism-exhibition-lacks-zang-tumb-tumb/
Karl casts an interesting perspective on the absence of music, architecture that were big Futurist themes, not included at the Tate exhbition. Encouraged me to learn more, so thanks again Karl.
There’s some great recordings by Marinetti and his gang on my fave site UBU – http://www.ubu.com/sound/marinetti.html. There’s also a ton of essays, videos – say goodbye to your day before visiting. The thing I most love about the Italian Futurists was their level of commitment and enthusiasm – most of them met their deaths in WWII.