Militant Politics and Avant-garde Performance Art in the Early Futurist Movement

Published and archival documents in Italian archives reveal how Marinetti sought to fuse art and life in order to foster an action-oriented (rather than reflective) artistic practice. Of particular interest is the Futurist political engagement in Anarchist and Syndicalist circles, and the impact of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Arcadia 2006-12, Vol.41 (2), p.245-259
Main Author: Berghaus, Günter
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aesthetics
Anarchism
Art criticism
Art history
Italian literature
Marinetti, Filippo Tommaso (1876-1944)
Performance art
Politics
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Summary:Published and archival documents in Italian archives reveal how Marinetti sought to fuse art and life in order to foster an action-oriented (rather than reflective) artistic practice. Of particular interest is the Futurist political engagement in Anarchist and Syndicalist circles, and the impact of this on Futurist artistic practices in the 1910s. Selected examples from the theatrical genres of Serate and Public Actions and their relation to the beaux gestes libertaires of the Anarchist movement illustrate why the self-proclaimed Anarchist avant-garde and Futurism could not join forces in order to activate a country deeply steeped in traditionalism. Paradoxically, Futurism dealt more successfully with the bourgeoisie than with the revolutionary Left.
ISSN:0003-7982
1613-0642
DOI:10.1515/ARCA.2006.017