what i found most interesting in christine poggi’s “futurist velocities” is the exploration of the contradictions inherent in futurism. on the one hand, this movement signified a break from the past and an embrace of modernity. its fascination with speed, technology and violence was a testament to its desire to propel itself like a projectile or a racing automobile into an industrial future. yet at the same time, futurist art exhibits a palpable anxiety and discomfort with the shocks and jolts of a quickly changing world. there is the alienation associated with a changing environment – rather than access to semirural open spaces, city life was now characterized by the constraints of a network of rails underneath and electric wires on top. the sudden visibility of the masses due to the flattening of existing social hierarchies was particularly disturbing to the futurists.
marinetti, the founder of the movement, felt overwhelmed by this nameless, faceless mob. he felt his own identity disintegrate in the face of a homogenous multitude. yet at the same time, he himself did not believe in established social hierarchies. he was somewhat of an outsider – a bohemian poet who was passionate about individual sovereignty. his horror of the masses also stands in stark contrast to futurism’s manifesto of blurring the divisions b/w high and low culture in order to address the public directly and effectively. it’s obvious that marinetti thrilled to this galvanizing contact with the masses, but he preferred to assume the distant role of poet and charismatic leader rather than rank and file revolutionary.
modernity does not only imply scientific and industrial progress. there is also a socio-economic aspect to it. altho marinetti and friends were prompt to jump on the technological bandwagon, they were not particularly impressed by the democratization of society. their disdain for the general public is rendered in sharper relief by their attitude towards women. the past was identified with femininity (lethargy, nostalgia, armchairism) whereas the future was destined to be virile (provocation, speed, violence and war). carnal desire and eroticism (the realm of women) were to be overcome and channeled into manly heroism. these attitudes were hardly iconoclastic or “modern” but reeked of centuries old elitism and chauvinism. futurism was not able to resolve these inconsistencies.
i found futurist art to be engaging and dynamic. movement and energy are represented along lines of force and thru repetitive outlines. lived experiences captured by memories which define an individual are splattered and stretched across time and space much as the quickly changing views charging at a passenger looking out of a train window. the freedom offered by cubism lends much vitality to this art movement. boccioni’s triptych, “states of mind II: the farewells, those who go, those who stay” evokes the dilemmas of that era and of futurism itself. by clearly breaking down the technologically mediated experience of train travel into its affective components, he is lending credence to and validating emotions such as loss and melancholy. but wasn’t nostalgia supposed to be despicably feminine?