The Futurists

The name of the movement being a hint, the futurists were a group of young adults who rebelled against anything that was older than them! Museums, old architecture, fossils, anything that represented our past as a society disgusted them. Their movement involved sleek clean designs & a strong use of typography throughout, making the style very graphical. These designs were somewhat alien to the society of that time (during the war) which is what they wanted to achieve; to challenge the public into idealising a greater future for themselves. To forget the dreary days they are comfortably allowing themselves to drown in.

But who led this army of those artists who were far ahead of their time? Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, a renowned fascist. After being involved in a car crashed caused by his colleagues adventurous driving, he was inspired to write & publish the Futurist manifesto on the 29th February 1909. His views in favour of philosophy, technoligical advancement & anarchy, he was happy in the thought of war. The desire of a great change in the political state was greater than his care for the many lives lost during those dark, cold times.



This is a piece called Study For Street Light by Giacoma Balla. This is a painting of what appears to be a light bulb  constructed with many flecks of light. In the top right corner you can see a dimmed crescent moon which is the contrast of natural light to artificial. I believe that Balla is stating that artificial light will always out stand the natural as the intelligence behind such technology is impressive & that it is far more useful. Balla was very involved in futurism. He was a large believer in technology to the point that he involved his family, naming his daughters Propeller & Light.

 Overall I believe that there was a strong sense of frustration among these artists as they portrayed a strong sense of disbelief in the societies values & their lack of being able to move on to a better place.