This week in history:
In 1909, Italian author and poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti coined the term Futurism in a Paris newspaper. Britannica Futurism was an art and culture trend which saw beauty in speed, violence, machines, and abandoned existing customs and cultures. Futurism in Europe began with poets and visual artists; many of whom saw feminism, museums and libraries as outdated. They promoted the idea of destroying the past and the buildings and anything that got in the way of the new wave of the future.
Marinetti’s list of futurism’s principles: “speed”, “danger” “energy”, “fearlessness”, “aggression”, “action”, and “the punch and the slap.” The ninth clause of his manifesto was the most obviously fascist:
“We will glorify war—the world’s only hygiene—militarism, patriotism, the destructive gesture of freedom-bringers, [and] beautiful ideas worth dying for.” Artmejo
The story of futurism as art is tangled up with the frustration some Italians felt as exciting technology and science developments like X-rays, electricity, radio waves, automobiles and airplanes came from Germany, England, France, and other countries. The futurists felt that the Kingdom of Italy was stuck in the past. They believed that to bring Italy to a position of strength and importance, they must make an entirely new way of thinking. To do that, they felt meant the destruction of old ways, and machines of war and even human/machine hybrids that would be better and stronger than humans. They glorified war as a way to bring the best out of men, and sweep away past values and culture.
Futurist held gatherings, where they would recite poems and display art, and shout politically charged ideas at the audience, hoping to cause riots. They believed agitation and destruction would clear the way for regeneration of a stronger, energized Italy.
Aiding the Futurist campaign to integrate art into all aspects of life and to politicize it, many of these early performances promoted Mussolini‘s Fascio d’Azione Rivoluzionaria. A significant reason behind holding these events was Marinetti’s awareness that writing books and manifestos was not enough to garner a wide enough audience, and so he turned to variety theatre and elaborate media campaigns to propagate his Futurist ideology, which Boris Groys sees as “kind of nostalgic re-enactment of nineteenth-century terrorism.” Even as a soldier, Marinetti was given a prerogative which allowed him to travel across Italy, disseminating his creed through theatre and lecture. This demonstrates what Maria Popova described as Marinetti’s “shrewdness as a publicist.” Artmejo
Futurism, as a cultural movement, got its name and public attention with Marinetti’s Manifesto (it was a exciting story, inviting the reader on an adventure as Marinetti described the future of powerful men destroying old ideas, art, and culture, and replacing them with machines and increasingly fast changes in technology). It ended with Marinetti’s death in 1944. His ideas may have helped to shape fascism, with Italian leader Benito Mussolini promoting similar ideas as he developed fascism out of the nationalist movement. Mussolini then led the Fascist Party, and took control of the Kingdom of Italy in 1922.
The rebirth of Italy through Fascism, didn’t just stay within Italy. They bombed and invaded other countries around the Mediterranean, taking from those countries resources Italy lacked. The story of nationalistic political movements are not isolationist. Instead, they conquer neighboring countries to feed the demands of an endless cycle of destruction and rebuilding.
Futurism spanned World War 1 and World War 2. The formal death of futurism as an art and culture movement was the same as Marinetti’s death, but both futurism and its political cousin, fascism, echo in modern times as reminders to learn from history.
Here is one example:
Elon Musk's grandfather, Joshua Haldeman, was a "radical conspiracy theorist," involved in a political movement known as “Technocracy Incorporated,” that believed authoritarian tech-savvy overlords could solve the world's problems. The Atlantic. Members used numbers (apparently, Musk's grandfather was 10450-1) and sometimes added Xs to their names. Followers had identical gray clothing and cars, and greeted each other with special salutes. The group gave off "the tone of an incipient Fascist movement."
How Italian Futurism Influenced the Rise of Fascism
Because the state of Wisconsin’s Gerrymandering story is in the news again, we present you with a video from Crash Courses about Gerrymandering, to help explain what is going on with this silly word: