Futurism
The dawning of the new, twentieth century, sees the electrification 67 and mechanization of Western civilization. Electric lighting, the automobile and the motor-driven mass production of industry ignite a passion for speed, technology, and the possibilities of the future in the mind of one aggressive, war-hungry, woman-hating Italian poet/publisher and, through him, spark a new movement in art and literature which will revolutionize concepts of both. Futurism becomes a papa of Dada and a grand-pere of surrealism.
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| Poesia Magazine Number 3-4-5-6, April/July 1909 (5th year). Special issue devoted to Futurism. Cover by Alberto Martini. 62 |
The desire for 'free verse' advocated by F.T. Marinetti in his 1905 publication, Poesia, is transformed, by 1909, into the Founding and Manifesto of Futurism, published in Poesia’s last edition. This manifesto, the first of many, exalts ‘aggressive action, a feverish insomnia, the racer's stride, the mortal leap, the punch and the slap', while, at the same time, glorifying war, militarism, patriotism, 'the man at the wheel' and speed. 68
Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, |
Francesco Cangiullo, |
Futurist art forms? 'Words-in-freedom' onomatopoetic collage, the artist's book, the manifesto, sound poetry, performance.
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F T Marinetti, Les mots en liberté futuristes (The Futurist words-in-freedom), 1919. Cover and interior foldout typographical compositions by the author. 65  |
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'A Futurist poet would project words from the page like a machine gun firing bullets.' 74 |
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F T Marinetti, Parole in libertá: olfattive, tuttili, termiche (Words-in-freedom: olfactory, tactile, thermal).
Cover by the author. 66