Welcome to Film R1A sec. 1: Technology and the Body
Welcome to our course blog. Each Monday afternoon I will post something for you to reflect on--perhaps a passage from a reading, an image, a website, a point brought up in class... You should add your comment(s) to my post by the following Monday's class session. Aim for at least a paragraph's worth of writing, and try your best to use proper punctuation, spelling, and grammar. But the important thing is to let your ideas flow. Here's your chance to not only bounce around your thoughts, but to put them down in writing and share them with the rest of the us.
When reading the Futurist manifesto, I was struck by Marinetti's obsession with speed for it's own sake. It's not as if he was in a rush to get to a concrete destination or to produce a concrete outcome. In other words, he seems to be into speed for the pure sensational pleasure of it rather than for its functional efficiency. This makes me wonder if speed and efficiency, which are often used interchangeably, are actually the same thing or quite divergent?
What struck you about this reading? Did any recurring images or patterns of language stand out? Or anything startling statements that stopped you in your tracks? Anything confusing, unclear, or contradictory in the text? Does it remind you of any other texts, written or otherwise? What's the most important line in your view, and why?
posted by Irene Chien @ 6:46 AM
14 comments
14 Comments:
Thanks for the welcome. I think this blog is an awesome way to discuss topics. I can't wait to start commenting!
I presonally was fascinated by Marinetti’s comparison between museums and cemeteries. I’ve never looked at a museum as something that is holding the dead, or a place where painters vie to kill for more space and coverage on the walls. His anarchistic belief that humanity would be fed poison and rot was just another way for him to express his idea that humans should not waste time and energy of things in the past. It’s useless, and humanity should continue to aim to improve lives in the future with current actions today. He stated that they are in the times of modernization, with a revolution spurning. He had an entire paragraph where he repeatedly personified the actions of many modern capitals, and created a closer relationship with humanity. With this idea in mind, I thought that the most important line in his entire manifesto was the last line. Erect on the summit of the world, once again we hurl defiance to the stars. I interpreted this as a very powerful statement to the mind frame of most individuals in the early 1900’s. A giant modernization period was approaching, and they seemed so nonchalant. I loved how Marinetti recognized this apathetic attitude, and strongly preached that humanity should not just sit back and take whatever life brings to them. There was a common belief that one’s destiny is guided by the stars. He single-handedly rejected this belief and stated that people should take control of life and DO SOMETHING, instead of just settling for the path that is “written in the stars”. They are on the edge of making something that could benefit many generations behind them, and Marinetti believed that they should take advantage of it.
I also found the comparison of muesuems to graveyards is interesting. At one point or another someone must have also wondered about the purpose of going to muesums to see the works of past sculpters and painters as great as they might be. Marinetti seems to emphasize that we should take an active role in our own lives, what's done is done, theres is no need to repeat it. By adhering to artifacts housed in mueseums it holds us back from improvement. He also expects a younger generation to replace his generation and this cycle would bring about a better a more evolved art. Marinetti said that art is nothing but violence, cruelty, and injustice; therefore, for the future to exist there must be unrest or the world will stagnate.
Just like all the previous posters, I also believe that the comparison between museums and graveyards was the most profound. I mean it’s comical how he says that museums are a container for the dead, being that they are pretty much memories of people of the past. His abomination towards the past is strongly supported through the fact that even when he himself becomes a part of the past he supports uprisings against himself. Just like what others have said, the past is in the past and that is all it is. The most important or strongest line was as many said the last sentence, “erect on the summit of the world, once again we hurl defiance to the stars! The significance of this line is that it sums up the futurist movement which was his belief of the elimination of history or the past. His belief of constant uprisings by the youth is a very interesting theory, one that in my opinion only seems to cause chaos. Without remembrance or knowledge of the past would mean that mistakes of the past would reoccur.
The first point in his Manifesto of Futurism, “We intend to sing the love of danger, the habit of energy and fearlessness,” screams that Marinetti is a thrill seeker. I'm sure that coming from a small, antiquated Italian town helped Marinetti develop this characteristic and I applaud him for discovering that there is more to life than what he sees. I admire Marinetti for not being complacent and encouraging others to do the same. Marinetti has the right idea; life is too short to not take chances once in a while. Danger is not always a bad thing. Fearlessness is a characteristic to be respected. A thrill seeker might not live forever but a cautious person does not live at all.
What struck me was how Marinetti was such an advocate for Futurism, but welcomed the time in which new foes would succeed the Futurists. He stated, “When we are forty, other younger and stronger men will probably throw us in the wastebasket like useless manuscripts – we want it to happen!” I think that Marinetti’s obsession which speed has to do with the fact that he only has a limited amount of time to spread the Futurist ideas and finish his work. I also believe the thrill of speed is greater than a slow and drawn out process no matter how efficient the outcome. But one has to be willing to face the outcome in the end. Marinetti’s attitude toward death is in that sense admirable to me. He knows death is inevitable. It’s just a matter of time, so why not live life at a fast pace?
I thought the statement of "Why should we look back, when what we want is to break down the mysterious doors of the Impossible?" I took the statement and his manifesto as they want to move forward and not look back. They want to be able to do new things that they were not able to do before. I really like the comparison of museum and the cemetery about how museums and just a place for like death. But the fascination with moving ahead with machines and speed like that was really what I thought I got out of it. Also there was a lot of hatred in some of his words. Burn down museums, he wants to glorify war, and that hatred keeps him from being wary. Just wants to live in the fast lane and has no care in the world.
“Let’s break out of the horrible shell of wisdom and throw ourselves like pride-ripened fruit into the wide, contorted mouth of the wind!” In order to create new and revolutionary art, an artist must deviate from the past and known. It is necessary to go against the flow, against convention, and stand tall against close-minded critics. However, to condemn and do away with museums and the past jeopardizes the foundation of the futurists’ work. Past works and styles can stifle the talent and energy of emerging artists. But without the old, how will the futurist know the work they’ve created is innovative?
When reading Marinetti's manifesto, I was personally struck by the contradiction of his numbered statements. On one hand he calls for pure anarchy, yet dreams of a future full of common technology. Generally, those two ideas are mutually exclusive, considering there is less technical production in times of chaos. On a less concrete observation, Marinetti seems consumed by recklessness and his own greatness.
One statement that really threw me off was on page 23. “When we are forty, other younger and stronger men will probably throw us in the wastebasket like useless manuscripts – we want it to happen!” This man is so hostile towards the past that he actually wants his children to rid the earth of his own self. I understand that the advances that would soon accompany the coming of the Industrial Revolution were very novel and quite exciting, but to be so intolerable of the past is amazing. I’ve always been intrigued about history and the many stories of where it all began. Without past events, we would not be where we are today and to entirely disregard the trials and errors of history is incredible.
In his Manifesto of Futurism, I took note that Marinetti uses anaphora (I guess that's anaphora, or whatever it is), beginning points eight through eleven with "We will"..."We Will"...and so on and follows with strong assertive statements. Hasn't this kind of literary device been greatly overused? And as an anarchist, why would he use the same "commercial" device that had been so overdone by the greats of civilized society and of whose books he wishes to burn? Otherwise, I'm really enjoying the fervor and life he's brought to the text with his outrageous imagery. Also, its assertiveness and other aforementioned language techniques afford much more enjoyance (my new word) than such authors as the "Beat Movement", whose shock techniques, "false modernity", false progressivism, and Berkeley-esque whining seem less persuasive and less exciting than "the [exaltation] of feverish insomnia...the punch, and the slap."
Although I found many of the points that Marinetti made in "Futuristic Manifestoes" interesting, I agree with victor l's comments that Marinetti is a bit radical. His statements about loving war, scorning women, fighting moralism, and "setting fire to the library shelves" is pretty extreme. He doesn't seem to consider the consequences of such anarchy. And though there is some truth in what he says about the detrimental effects on artists' creativity from daily visits to the museum, I consider his views about fighting and forgetting the past to be a little rash. After all, the past is something from which we can learn from; it should not to be disregarded as if it were a burden or plague.
What struck me the most in the Futurist manifesto was Marinetti's view of death. He embraced it as willingly as he embraced the future as if it were his goal. Not only did he want it, but he also glorified it, using passionate, metaphoric language like "Death, domesticated...making velvety caressing eyes at me....". He wants the world to look towards death so that they may relinquisht the past and present and look to the possibilities of the future.
I thought it was very interesting that F.T. Marinetti was so ready to destroy everything that had any relation to the past. However, I did think that it was very fair of him to not have any qualms and to actually encourage the next generation to also destroy his generation's work and ideas. I was also struck by Marinetti's statement that a museum is a like a cementary, and although I don't agree that museums should be destroyed, I do see how a building specifically made for preserving and caring for ancient artifacts can seem like a tomb. The biggest impression that Marinetti's writing left me was the strength of his desire for violence against the past.
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