Concept in Definition ABC

At the beginning of the 20th century in Europe a series of avant-garde movements emerged in the art world. Among them, we can highlight the surrealism, Cubism, Dadaism, Ultraism or Futurism. All these currents have their own essence, their ideals and approaches, but at the same time they share the same creative spirit, the search for new ways of understanding art.

The social context

At the beginning of the 20th century, a new version of the industrial revolution was produced. There is a great confidence in technology and machines symbolize a stage of progress and human development. Thus, racing cars, airplanes or the cinematograph appear as cultural symbols of the first order. They are more than just gadgets, representing ideas such as velocity, force or Energy. East weather Hope in technology was uniquely developed in Italy, especially in large cities.

Marinnetti's Futurist Manifesto

In 1909 the Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti published in the French press the so-called "Futurist Manifesto", which is considered the founding document of the

movement. In it appear the features of this new Vanguard artistic.

In the first place, ideas such as recklessness, energy and rebellion are exalted, concepts that must permeate the creative activity of artists. To Futurism, the roar of a racing car engine is as suggestive as a work of art. Beauty is understood in an intense and even violent and aggressive way. Artistic creation is impregnated with nonconformity and in this spirit it sets out to destroy old art forms (museums or libraries are considered icons of the past). Futurism glorifies militarism and the revolutionary patriotic ideal.

The ideas of the "Futurist Manifesto" had a strong impact and in 1912 a new manifesto appeared in which the binomial Futurism and Literature was developed.

It was committed to a destruction of traditional syntax and a rethinking of language in general (without punctuation rules, with mathematical signs between words and a new sense of narrative order and poetic).

From both a theoretical and a practical point of view, the Futurist movement was a fierce criticism of the classical values ​​of the art world. At the same time, the authors of this current were especially combative with the bourgeoisie conformist anchored in traditional values.

Photos: Fotolia - Ulia Koltyrina / Lorelyn Medina

Topics in Futurism