Avant-gardes THE FUTURIST MODEL

"We shall set in motion the words-in-freedom that smash the boundaries of literature as they march towards painting, music, noise-art, and throw a marvelous bridge between the word and the real."

 

 

 

 

You can read futurist manifestos here http://www.unknown.nu/futurism/


the futurists

a. who were the futurists?
b. reaction against dependence on the past
c. the first manifesto
d. futurism and the role of the artist
- new forms and blurring of artistic boundaries
- in poetry
- in synthetic theatre
- in cinema
etc.
- inspiring outrage

3. film: Vita Futurista

4. so what? legacies and connections

-- suggests importance of the impact of radically new forms of technology and the relationship to artists and expression

- relationship to dada and surealism, performance art, fluxus ...

- what connections do you see/can you imagine?

 

questions:

 

Consider "The Founding manifesto of Futurism" discussed in lcture and available online as well as in the Performnace Reader

 

1. in the first third of the manifesto marinetti describes what we might call a joy ride. What led marinetti and his friends to drive aimlessly through the streets of Milan italy?

2. Describe marinetti's style of writing in the first section of the manifesto. What kinds of stimuli take centre stage in his narrative? How does he desribe them?

3. (How) does marinetti's story of the car crash relate to his manifesto?

4. What do Marinetti and his friends target with thier love of violence? Are any of these targets problematic for you? Which ones? Why?

5. At the close of his manifesto marineti describes futurism's Achilles heel. What is the one thing that marinetti believes can and will destroy his futurist movement?

6. What is the relationship between the afrofuturism be discussed last week and the Italian futurists?

7 -- Once you have the Performance Reader: what is the relationship between futurism and contemporary performance art? can you think of examples of perfromance art that take up the ideas we discussed today?