> ; - eN a ay a UP 19919 = yy REC GALT THE UNIVERSETHE INVENTION OF THE PROGRAMMATIC AVANT-GARDE CLAUDIA SALARIS Futurism arose against the background of profound economic social, and cultural upheavals that marked the advent of mod er, industrialized, urbanized society. In this context the role of art entered a crisis, a art lost its conventional aura of sacred: ness: Born in aly, a country with along cultural tradition and «keen sense of the weight ofthe past, the movement aspired to return art toa central role in society by formulating new aes- thetic languages fit for the modern age and capable of express ing the dizzying transformations taking place, It aimed to reconstruct the world according to an overall design that would affect not only all the arts—from the fine arts to the applied arts—but every aspect of life, thought, and custom. Animated by such ambitions, Futurism succeeded in carving out a place for Italian art on the international scene after a long period of invisibility that had begun with the decline of the baroque. Central to this project was the concept of the “new man,” a human being distinct from his ancestors in his way of life and ‘manner of thinking, his psyche having been transformed by an environment characterized by machines, heavy industry, sci- entific achievements, vast urban agglomerations, accelerated communications, and transportation networks ‘The movement's founder, F. T. Marinetti, an Italian poet who wrote in French and was educated in the fin-de-siécle cul- tural climate, realized sooner than his intellectual contempo- raries that art must renew itselfin the modern age, meeting the challenge of the times by addressing the realities of daily life, mass production, and current events. He was the first to speak of an “earth shrunk by speed,” a phenomenon stemming from the worldwide establishment of systems of transportation and communication and the resultant birth of a “new sense of the ‘world”—a perception that foreshadowed Marshall McLuhan’ vision of the earth as @ global village made more accessi- ble by the development of mass media.” Showing an astute awareness of the problems of the age, Futurism developed an unprecedented avant-garde language to articulate the nature of this anthropological mutation. According to its program art would no longer be an individualistic pursuit but a group activity open to everyone. Not only would ideas and projects percolate in a collective laboratory, but creativity would be a tool to regenerate human beings. Given this approach, what interested the Futurists was not so much the masterpiece per se as the encrgy used to create. The renunciation of the idea of art as something sacred and removed from common mor tals was an indispensable element of Futurism, which made “a continual effort to go beyond all the rules of art and art itself, by means of something imprecise that one might call fear ephemera.”? Proclaiming a symbiosis between art and lif, the ‘movement opened a breach through which much ofthe exper mentation of the twentieth century passed. ‘A salient feature of Futurism was its utterly democrat: nature: it offered everyone the possibility to identify as 2 Futurist—one merely had to want to do so—unlike the majority ‘of modern movements, which remained confined to an intel lectual elite, Ata time when the young were not yet recognized asa powerful and distinct social category (a shift that began in the 1950s), the movement coined the slogan: “Make way for the young!” (Largo ai giovani!)* Futurism became an obligor point of reference for young people who, seeking to distinguish themselves from the adult world, felt instinctively aligned with its aims. Only the poets of the Beat Generation of the 9soshave had comparable success in carrying forward a project ofthis nature, profoundly influencing a generation of young peor in every aspect of their lives: language, behavior, philosop aesthetics, fashion, music, and politics. Allen Ginsberg himself acknowledged this heritage, invoking the first Futurist mani festo with the words: “The prophecies of Marinetti ar coming true, some of them, the wilder, more poetic ones." Itisnoacc dent that the rebirth of research into this artistic exprievpegan i the9508 and os in these years of economic recovery and protest, the conditions were ripe for rei yeringa move- ‘ment such as that founded by Marineti Futurism was born in 3909 asa literary school, but it later expanded to include multiple artistic disciplines and wlti- mately extended beyond aesthetic concerns, The overall inten tion was explicit i the first manifest, which proclaimed: 4. We intend to singto the love of danger, the habit of energy and fearlessness 2. Courage, boldness, and rebelliousness will be the esser tial elements of our poetry 5.Up to now literature has exalted contemplative still nes, ecstasy, and sleep. We intend to exalt movement and aggression, feverish insomnia, the racers stride, the mortal leap, the slap and the punch, 44. We affirm thatthe beauty ofthe world has been enriched by a new form of beauty: the beauty of speed. A racing car... is more beautiful than the Victory of Samothrace. 5. We intend to hymn man atthe steering wheel, the deal axis of which intersects the earth. «6, Henceforth poets must... increase the enthusiastic fer ‘yor ofthe primordial elements Gamat pep rg ee an 40 Cato Cat acapella Adego Sats inatanol chino Rernce Eta a Ve 5 ‘rnd Govan een‘ in i un ds trea oi {Franca Cpl Padre sans fated Poo 0k Fancocs Cancion fbn ere is: aso tee cea sia aon rie 3 Pos, ‘Sonne ole, et allan Ae: Et atin Pt. 9)41 ET Marat Spleen” tans a Relay tal, atc. 42. 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