How the Ideas of Futurism Is Reflected in the Designs of the Early 20th Century

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Futurism is an art movement which originated from Italy in the early 20th Century which based its concepts on things like speed, technology, energy and violence. There were also parallel movements in Russia and Britain, although in Britain it was mostly known as Vorticism which was slightly different and happened later, it was influenced by Futurism. Futurism was practised on almost every medium such as, painting, sculpture, ceramics, graphic design, industrial design, theatre, film, fashion, textiles, literature, music, architecture and gastronomy.
Futurists embraced the new and exciting world that was upon them, rather than hypocritically pretending they did not like the worlds new modern comforts while criticising them like many other people at that time. The painter and sculptor Umberto Boccioni wrote the Manifesto of Futurist Painters in 1910 in which he vowed:
“We will fight with all our might the fanatical, senseless and snobbish religion of the past, a religion encouraged by the vicious existence of museums. We rebel against that spineless worshipping of old canvases, old statues and old bric-a-brac, against everything which is filthy and worm-ridden and corroded by time. We consider the habitual contempt for everything which is young, new and burning with life to be unjust and even criminal.”[1] This was a big statement to make in that time as it was going against the majority, but in fact it opened people up to a new modern way of looking at life, rather than being stuck in the past.
Futurism artists achieved what they wanted to by working with an extreme contrast in colours and shadows, as well as using intersecting lines to show movement. “Speeding Car” by Giacomo Balla is a perfect example of a design influence...

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...tly what Futurism would have done when it first came around, as nobody had ever seen something like it before. Although Futurism was not a very long lasting art movement, it’s ideas and influence on designs are still being recognised now.

Works Cited

Dillan.B (2013) “What is Futurism” can be found at: http://www.artinthepicture.com/styles/Futurism/, accessed on the 10/12/13
Figure 1: Giacomo Balla, Speeding Car, 1913, can be found at: http://totallyhistory.com/giacomo-balla-paintings/ Accessed on the 9/12/13
Figure 2: Glenn Sheffer, Worlds Fair Chicago, 1933, can be found at: http://www.radiostratosphere.com/zsite/behind-the-dial/chicago-worlds-fair.html Accessed on the 9/12/13
Figure 3: Heinz Schulz-Neudamm, Metropolis Poster, 1927, can be found at: http://beautiful-grotesque.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/visions-of-fritz-lang-i-metropolis.html Accessed on the 10/12/13

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