Futurism as critique of culture through art action

• In Event: 4166 - Section on Marxist Sociology Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 1. Et tu, Art? Art as a Capitalist and Imperialist Tool

Abstract

The interaction among anticipation, ambiguity and complexity is the explosive mixture which is present in all avant-garde art movements of the early twentieth century and it is also what makes them more than just artistic movements. From a sociological point of view art and society never confront one another. As they are one inside the other. Neither aesthetics as a “mirror” nor the notion of the aesthetic act as a possible evidence of the universally concrete can fully explain the complexity of such relation.
The anticipation of postmodern social logic and structural change is a central theme of futurist avant-garde art and is a clear evidence of its relation to society and to the complexity of its social role within Italian and European context.
Futurism was an internationally widespread movement started with the publishing of the first Manifesto in January 1909 in the Parisian newspaper Le Figaro. It was to become the first avant-garde movement in art of the early twentieth century, with the multiple aim of: changing the function of art within society, foster Italian culture beyond its provincial and traditional domains, and last, but not least extend language as an expression of a new and forthcoming society of technology. This paper will inquire the roots of the movements and especially its key motivations deeply connected within Italian culture, politics and the clear need for a modern Italian identity, which made become the movement itself a real cultural project.

Author

• Ilaria Riccioni, Free University of Bolzano