What is futurism? Why we relate to futurism?

The question in important, especially relating to what is going on since some years in perforative (freudian lapsus, i mean “performative”) arts, with the birth of new disciplines like “live cinema” and such.

Surely the whole modernist ideals are very much understandable now, on the light of new technology. For me, being Italian, futurism is particularly important. Is not only the teoretical level but especially to relate emotionally to a period in time were still things were undecided and could have gone differently.

The importance of futurism is also evident in the work of a pionier of philosopy of media as Lev Manovich, that uses it throughly in his book “the Language of New Media”. A very good starting point for reflections about what are we doing with digital manipulation of reality…

Here linked a small piece that I wrote in 1999 that wanted to answer to this question. Is in Italian and intended for a local audience. This makes it somehow dated also. I was 29, enraged and fiery. I think is important, with his limits though, to understaind the “emotional part I mentioned before.

Without our emotions we will not be worth the burden of being busy with art…

For those who do not understaind italian I made a rapid translation (after that has been asked by Emese in the comments of the previous page).

Remo Chiti – One of the few surviving images from the film “Vita Futurista” (Futurist Life) of 1916

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THEN

a personal view over futurism, in original written in Italian, and in a fresh translation to english made by me.

FUTURO (1999) in italian
FUTURE (1999) english translation