Problems with Futurism

The Cubists “created an art which was… theoretical and artificial, but which… seemed to be about the substance of things” (Britt 168). The futurists, on the other hand, seemed to be more concerned with creating something new than with creating an actual art form that possessed any guiding values. While the futurists, as a movement, try to “Destroy the notion of value itself,” they also, “glorify action and violence and vilify tradition of every kind” (Britt 178, 179). This seems contradictory. If there is no value system to futurism, then there is no reason to give preference to violence over tradition. Also, Marinetti talks about how the younger generation should throw away the ideas of the older generation, Marinetti’s own ideas. If Marinetti truly believes that no movement should last, then he wouldn’t be instructing the younger generation to do anything. Futurism obviously grabs at some kind of lasting influence, due to its proponents focus on public manifestos to broadcast their beliefs. This movement is so bogged down by contradiction, I wasn’t surprised at all when I read that Marinetti urges to, “break away from rationality as out of a horrible husk” (Britt 179). Obviously rationality didn’t strongly enter in to Marinetti’s creation of his first futurist manifesto. It seems that the futurists want to be inventors without actually having something to invent. They’re so focused on being new and rebellious that they seem to be almost unconcerned with the actual creation of art or culture.

Futuristic art is an awkward genre because it grew out of this poorly-defined set of values. Most of the art lacked originality. The great masters mentioned in Britt’s essay all have serious flaws. Balla simply borrowed art that came before, namely Marey’s photography and Seurat’s pointillism. Russolo was a poor artist, but he did create synaesthesia. As interesting as this artistic effect is, it seems to have little to do with the goals presented in the futurist painter’s manifesto, and more to do with Russolo’s personal innovation. Bocioni’s The Laugh is described by Britt to be his “least successful” attempt at integrating Cubism into Futurism (Britt 188). Finally, Britt emphasizes the fruitlessness of this movement by stating that the States of Mind, the Farewells is “arguably the one great Futurist painting” (Britt 188). I’d speculate that only having one great painting is a sign of a movement’s failure.