Bold Call of the Futurists
Would Marinetti have appreciated the green laser light beaming down via Del Corso, as if piercing through time itself?
Perhaps an anniversary tribute may not have been the preferred way to pass an evening with the Futurists, who despised backward glancing, but Rome’s homage to the 100th anniversary of Futurism was a work of art itself, an expression of contemporary ingenuity that added dimension and flavor to the historical reference.
The City’s urban design, the comfortable “human” distances, the ample openness of each piazza, the elegant informality of presentations, lent itself well to the theatrical indoor-outdoor citywide tribute. Indeed, the experiential quality of the celebration, which compelled participants to migrate from one piazza to the next, fit its very inspiration.
In many ways, the bold call of the Futurists (read about them on page 36) is an everyday fact in post-modern reality: instant-messaging, high speed jets, filmon- demand, and even low-carb diets, are part of the Futurists’ 100-year-old vision for living.
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