The Futurists

There is a belief that everything is connected, an art movement from 1909, for example, could inspire a film, which could inspire years of popular culture in present time. Furthermore, the art movement that inspired the film could, in turn be connected to older art movements, as it is an act of rebellion against another movement. Each new artist movement is an act of rebellion from another one.

The art movement in question here is Futurism. The Futurists' Manifesto states eleven main points. The Futurists were rebelling against the classical artists of the time (1909). They wanted to change the world, they wanted to totally modernise contemporary design and rejected all classical arts. They wanted to destroy all evidence of history, such as libraries and museums and they wanted to start again from year zero. In 1909-1910, there were a lot of changes occurring such as electricity, cars and steamboats. Cars, speed and light fascinated the Futurists. This is clear from this piece of work from The Futurists, where the main focus of the art is light and electricity.

Street Light - Giacomo Balla

In my opinion, this is a bad idea, if we get rid of all past ideas, we will not be able to learn from past mistakes and society and civilisation will descend into anarchy. In modern times, the Futurists would be shunned even more so than they were at the time, it is the common view in modern-day society that wars should not be happening and that everyone should be equal. This is a view I fully agree with.

The idea of everything being connected applies here. The Futurists influenced Fritz Lang's film Metropolis. This film influenced a comic, and many modern music videos, such as Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi", Madonna's "Express Yourself", Queen's "Radio Gaga" and Whitney Houston's "Queen of the Night". More information about how this film influenced popular culture can be found here.

Freddie Mercury in the video for Radio Gaga

Lady Gaga, whose name was influenced by the song Radio Gaga

It is surprising how one movement can inspire so many things in popular culture today. This makes me realise that my work should be influenced by others. I should look into what other people are doing in the illustration world and both be inspired by them and do something different to them. Because I disagree with the Futurist's manifesto, I intend learn from the past and embrace mistakes and accidents to improve my work.