Futurist Conditions

Italian futurism visualized diverse types of motion, which had been rooted in pervasive kinetic and vehicular forces generated during a period of dramatic modernization in the early 20th century. Yet, as David Mather's sweeping intellectual and art historical scholarship demonstrates, it was the camera-not the engine-that proved to be the key invention against which many futurist ideas and practices were measured.

Overturning several misconceptions about Italian futurism's interest in the disruptive and destructive effects of technology, Futurist Conditions provides a refreshing update to that historical narrative by arguing that the formal and conceptual approaches by futurist visual artists reoriented the possibly dehumanizing effects of mechanized imagery toward more humanizing and spiritual aims. Through its sustained analysis of the artworks and writings of Umberto Boccioni, Giacomo Balla, and the Bragaglia brothers, dating to the first decade after the movement's founding in 1909, Mather's account of the their obsession with motion pivots around a 1913 debate on the place and relative import of photography among more traditional artistic mediums-a debate culminating in the expulsion of the Bragaglias, but one that also prompted a number of productive responses by other futurist artists to the world-changing social, political, and economic conditions.

Futurismul italian a vizualizat diverse tipuri de miscare, care au fost inradacinate in forte cinetice si vehiculare omniprezente generate intr-o perioada de modernizare dramatica la inceputul secolului al XX-lea. Totusi, asa cum demonstreaza bursele intelectuale si istorice ale artei ale lui David Mather, aparatul de fotografiat - nu motorul - s-a dovedit a fi inventia cheie impotriva careia s-au masurat multe idei si practici futuriste. efectele distructive ale tehnologiei, Conditiile futuriste ofera o actualizare revigoranta a acelei naratiuni istorice, sustinand ca abordarile formale si conceptuale ale artistilor vizuali futuristi au reorientat efectele posibil dezumanizante ale imaginii mecanizate catre scopuri mai umanizante si spirituale.