Arina Zinoveva z3454257 “Italian Futurism, 1909-1944 – Reconstructing the Universe”
The exhibition at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
New York City, the United States of America
February 21 – September 1, 2014
Introduction
Bearing in mind Neil Brown’s model of analysis for art and design (Brown 2005: 1314), we would like to critically engage with the artefact “Italian Futurism, 1909-1944
– Reconstructing the Universe”, the exhibition that is currently showing at Solomon
R. Guggenheim Museum.
Neil Brown’s model of analysis consists of six main components. The first component
is ‘the field’. The field includes publications and professional associations that study,
analyze, critique and engage with the artefact. The second component is ‘theory’.
Theory describes the procedures and the principles of the ways the artefact was
created. The third component is ‘the object’. The object explains the main goals of the
artefact. The fourth component is the ‘designer’. It is divided into three sub-groups:
the psychological, socio-cultural and economic. The fifth component of the artefact is
‘the methodology’, which mainly includes the technical implementation of the
artefact. And the final component is the artefact itself, which includes the results of
the artefact, as well as its flaws and major successes.
The Field
The field of the artefact firstly includes
the articles published in the journals
and magazines after the exhibition was
organized. The article in ‘the Gallerist’
(Pollack 2014) pointed out the match
of the Solomon R. Guggenheim
1 Arina Zinoveva z3454257 Museum’s space with the nature of the Futuristic works that is curvy and
technologically advanced. The article in ‘the New Yorker’ (Schleldahl 2014) focused
on the Futurists’ ideology that proclaimed the necessity of destroying museums and
prioritizing the militaristic regime. The article in ‘The Daily Beast’ (Freedlander
2014) draws our attention to the styles of the art movement and its main objectives.
Jessica Palmieri also contributed to the field of the artefact. She combined
information about events, exhibitions, scholarships and journal reviews that are
related to Italian Futurism in the web site ‘italianfuturism.org’. Other publications on
Italian Futurism include Giovanni Lista’s ‘Futurism’ (1986), Richard Humphreys’s
‘Futurism’ (1999) and Sylvia Mirtin’s ‘Futurism’ (2005). These publications contain a
comprehensive overview of Italian Futurism: its history, methodology, philosophical
claims, and an extensive variety of artworks (paintings, drawings, sculptures, design
objects and manifestos). The major success of these publications is in its sequential
organization. Especially, Lista and Humphreys effectively revealed the developmental
process that Italian Futurism experienced through three decades and the challenges
the movement tackled.
Theory
The theoretical foundation of the movement was mainly in
publishing manifestos. ‘The Founding and Manifesto of
Futurism’ by Marinetti, ‘Manifesto of the Futurist Painters’
by Boccioni, Russolo and Carlo Carra and ‘Absolute
Motion + Relative Motion = Dynamism’ were some of their
key publications (Guggenheim 2014). The theory of Italian
Futurism lies in ideas of irrationalism (Humphreys 1999:
15). Marinetti also connected the movement to theories of Nietzsche (Humphreys
1999: 17, 20). Futurists even emphasized that speed could become a new religion
(Lista 1986: 5). Italian futurists used theories of musicality of poetry and connected
their conceptual process to ideas of cosmic pantheism. Italian Futurists aimed to
manipulate theories and juxtapose ideas in order to convert them into twodimensional or a three-dimensional visual expression by utilizing their technical skills
2 Arina Zinoveva z3454257 as artists. The artefact synthesized these ideas and theories in order to express another
concept: placement of “the spectator into the center of the artwork” (Greener 2014).
The Object
The first objective of the artefact is to change the negative opinion of the audience
about the association of Italian Futurism with Fascism (Guggenheim 2014). The
curator of the exhibition, Vivien Greener, strove to emphasize the diversity of style
that the art movement prioritized. That is why the exhibition includes not only
paintings, but also futuristic objects of interior design (tables, wardrobes and chairs)
and futuristic sculptures, textiles, costumes and performance art.
The second objective of the
exhibition is to place Italian
Futurism in the context of world
developments, such as aerial
engineering, fast-growing cities,
advanced technology and the
value of progress and urbanization
(WNYC 2014). Italian Futurists reflected these values by exploring and utilizing their
contemporary methods such as film and photography. Italian Futurists also developed
architectural drawings that represented their vision of the modern and rapidly
developing city. They also experimented with music that was composed in a
spontaneous manner and often sounded like the noise of an engine. Italian Futurists
emphasized the importance of practicing spontaneous writing. They believed that
such method could make their minds free and creatively aggressive.
The third goal of the artefact was to organize a major retrospective of Italian Futurists
in the United States of America (Freedlander 2014). Although Italian Futurism was
initiated at the beginning of the twentieth century, no country in the world has ever
organized a major retrospective. It mainly occurred because of Futurism’s association
with Fascism and its destructive ideology that was directed not only towards
museums, libraries, and art academies, but also towards women (WNYC 2014).
Italian Futurism was an antifeminine movement (Humphreys 1999: 20). However, the
3 Arina Zinoveva z3454257 exhibition in New York City reveals that a few women-artists were active participants
in the Futurism movement and they made a comprehensive contribution to the
elaboration of Futuristic style and its methodologies.
The Designer
The designer of the artefact is curator Vivien Greene. Her specialty is ‘late 19th- and
early 20th-century European art’ (Guggenheim 2014).
Socio-cultural function
The socio-cultural aspect of the
artefact is its linkage to the settings
of the Solomon R. Guggenheim
Museum that has a futuristic
architectural layout (Freedlander
2014) and to New York City as a
whole, where the exhibition is
conducted. Habitants of New York
City are forced to prioritize a rapid
life-style. In order to survive in the city, a person should learn to make decisions fast
and never stand still. The exhibition “Italian Futurism, 1909-1944 – Reconstructing
the Universe” reveals the tendencies in art towards such ideology. The exhibition also
aims to reflect on whether such tendencies have a destructive or a creative outcome
(Guggenheim 2014) and whether a contemporary society has to fight against an
aggressive ideology.
Psychological function
The psychological aspect of the exhibition is its influence on the audience’s
perception of reality. The style of Vorticism that Italian Futurists applied in their
paintings is able to create a mental confusion and sensation of disorientation. The
Futuristic paintings have an effect of being emerged into a different world that
symbolizes speed, development and continuous actions against authority.
4 Arina Zinoveva z3454257 Economic function
Firstly the economic goal of the exhibition is to promote Italian art among art critics
and art dealers: the artefact is potentially able to increase the value of its products on
the art markets around the world (Artdaily 2014). Another economic goal and
function is to link other organizations and individuals around the world that relate to
Italian Futurism (The Center for Italian Modern Art; Solomon R. Guggenheim
Museum) under one unified idea: researchers, centers, and performance artists can
join their forces during the time of the exhibition and express their knowledge; they
have an opportunity to communicate with the audience in a coherent way.
The Methodology
The methodology of the artefact is not only in conducting the exhibition, but also in
organizing a series of related events. These events include, for example, a lecture
“Touch without Sight: Futurist Tactilism”, where Emily Braun mainly discussed the
personal experience of Marinetti, who was the founder of Italian Futurism
(Guggenheim 2014). Other lectures include “Ivo Pannaggi, Arte Meccanica, and the
International Avant-Garde” by Christine Poggi and “War, Women, and Sexuality in
the Futurist Avant-Garde” by Lucia Re.
The methodology of the Italian Futurism movement itself reflects their link to Postimpressionism. Italian Futurists applied the techniques of Post-Impressionists at the
early stages of their artistic development. During the later stage, Italian Futurists
utilized Cubism (Humphreys 1999: 26-31). Italian and French artists had strong
connections at the beginning of the twentieth century; therefore, a constant exchange
of ideas and methodologies had taken place.
In their methodology, Italian Futurists were against key social aspects of that time
(Lista 1987: 13). In their painting techniques, Italian Futurists gave special attention
to creating a contrast in complementary colours. They aimed to realize such effect by
activating their intuition and spontaneity (Humphreys 1999: 36). Italian Futurists also
strove to visualize kinetics in the structure of their artworks. They applied methods of
photography that existed during the beginning of the twentieth century and rejected
5 Arina Zinoveva z3454257 the tradition of Italian art, because they wanted to look only into the future. Futurists
put on a pedestal technology and speed (Humphreys 1999: 15). They not only
prioritized dynamism in the painting process, but also strove to create a fusion of
sensations that the audience would experience while looking at the artwork. Italian
Futurists used a technique of free verse in poetry in order to make their artistic style
unexpected and direct in its expression. They also relied on Symbolism (Humphreys
1999: 19).
The Artefact
The Futurists experimented with various forms of
art. Their focal medium of expression was painting,
however, they also elaborated sculptures. For
example, the famous sculpture of a machine-like
person that moves in place by Umberto Boccioni
“Unique Forms of Continuity in Space” is included
in the exhibition. The exhibition also displays
Futuristic architectural drawings and costumes with a
modern and aggressive style. The exhibition
presented a section of a room, decorated in a Futuristic style, where dining table,
chairs and cupboard were painted in a geometrical pattern that created an illusion of
dynamic movement and gave a fresh perception. A separate space of the exhibition is
dedicated to Futurists’ experiments with performance. An intimate room with mainly
blue, purple and grey light projection has a staircase, where the audience could sit and
look at the video of a performance, developed by Futurist artists.
The predominant flaw of the Italian Futurism movement and the exhibition dedicated
to it is a focus on noise, rather than silence. Such world catastrophes and tendencies as
the World Financial Crisis of 2007, depletion of natural resources (gas, oil and coal),
global warming, thinning of the ozone layer suggested that dynamism, technology and
speed could be destructive for our society. Although Futurists used their intuition as
guidance in creating an artwork, they could not predict that obsession with progress
and rapid development would lead to such deteriorated consequences. Another major
flaw of the movement is the fact that Italian Futurists did not consider fully that the
6 Arina Zinoveva z3454257 artists had a powerful and influential role in the society. Italian Futurists had
authoritative promotional tools that inevitably effected society. However, the
influence the Futurists had was not a positive one. Futurists’ main mistake was
attachment to the Fascist movement and their relationship with Mussolini. These two
facts created an obstacle for the art movement to be perceived and appreciated by the
larger audience around the world. The exhibition did not address these concerns in an
obvious form, creating another flaw of the artefact.
However, there were also major successes of the
artefact. The first success of the exhibition was the
amount of artworks shown to the audience. The
audience could be truly emerged into the Futuristic
environment and could easily grasp the main ideas
and motivations of Futurists. Another main success
is the selection of the site. The Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum represented an ideal
location for showcasing Futurism. The round
shapes of the Museum and its architectural layout
enabled the audience to continuously move
through space and analyze the development of
Futurism.
Conclusion
We looked at six main components of the exhibition “Italian Futurism, 1909-1944 –
Reconstructing the Universe”. We analyzed its successes and flaws and came to the
conclusion that the curator was able to organize the first retrospective of Futurism in
an efficient way. Therefore, the objectives of the artefact were fulfilled and the
outcome was clearly shown not only by the amount of people who visited the
exhibition, but also by the amount of articles published. Our analysis also showed that
Neil Brown’s model is an effective tool of conducting a discussion about a man-made
creation.
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