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Russian Futurism

Russian Futurism is the broad term for a movement of Russian poets and artists who adopted the principles of Filippo Marinetti's "Manifesto of Futurism", which espoused the rejection of the past, and a celebration of speed, machinery, violence, youth, industry, destruction of academies, museums, and urbanism;[1] it also advocated for modernization and cultural rejuvenation.

"Russian Futurists" redirects here. For the band, see The Russian Futurists.

Russian Futurism began roughly in the early 1910s; in 1912, a year after Ego-Futurism began, the literary group "Hylea"—also spelt "Guilée"[2] and "Gylea"—issued the manifesto A Slap in the Face of Public Taste. The 1912 movement was originally called Cubo-Futurism, but this term is now used to refer to the style of art produced. Russian Futurism ended shortly after the Russian Revolution of 1917, after which former Russian Futurists either left the country, or participated in the new art movements.


Notable Russian Futurists included Natalia Goncharova, Mikhail Larionov, David Burliuk, Kazimir Malevich, Vladimir Mayakovsky, and Velimir Khlebnikov.

Style[edit]

The Manifesto celebrated the "beauty of speed" and the machine as the new aesthetic.[1] Marinetti explained the "beauty of speed" as "a roaring automobile is more beautiful than the Winged Victory" further asserting the movement towards the future. Artforms were greatly affected by the Russian Futurism movement within Russia, with its influences being seen in cinema, literature, typography, politics, and propaganda. The Russian Futuristic movement saw its demise in the early 1920s.

Name[edit]

Initially the term "futurism" was problematic, because it reminded them too much of their rivals in Italy; however, in 1911, the Ego-futurist group began. This was the first group of Russian futurism to call themselves "futurist"; shortly afterwards, many other futurists followed in using the term too.

Modernity[edit]

Like their Italian counterparts, the Russian Futurists were fascinated with the dynamism, speed, and restlessness of modern machines and urban life. They purposely sought to arouse controversy and to gain publicity by repudiating the static art of the past. The likes of Pushkin and Dostoevsky, according to A Slap in the Face of Public taste, should be "heaved overboard from the steamship of modernity".[8] They acknowledged no authorities whatsoever; even Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, when he arrived in Russia on a proselytizing visit in 1914, was obstructed by most Russian Futurists, who did not profess to owe him anything.[1]

Cinema[edit]

Russian Futurist cinema refers to the futurist movement in Soviet cinema. Russian Futurist cinema was deeply influenced by the films of Italian futurism (1916-1919) most of which are lost today. Some of the film directors identified as part of this movement are Lev Kuleshov, Dziga Vertov, Sergei Eisenstein, Vsevolod Pudovkin and Aleksandr Dovzhenko. Sergei Eisenstein's film Strike was seen as "the mordern Futurist art form par excellence." by Olga Bulgakowa. Bulgakowa theorized how the camera could change one's perceptions of reality and how it could make it seem like time was speeding up or slowing down during the film.[9]

Politics[edit]

With all this emphasis on formal experimentation, some Futurists were not indifferent to politics. In particular, Mayakovsky's poems, with their lyrical sensibility, appealed to a broad range of readers. He vehemently opposed the meaningless slaughter of World War I and hailed the Russian Revolution as the end of that traditional mode of life which he and other Futurists ridiculed so zealously. Although never a member of the Russian Communist Party (RKP(b)), he was active in early 1919 in the attempt to set up Komfut as an organisation promoting Futurism affiliated to the Viborg District Branch of the Party.[11]

Futurism

Russian avant-garde

Ego-Futurism

Russian cosmism

Universal Flowering

Cubo-Futurism

Markov, Vladimir (1968) Russian Futurism. University of California Press.

Petrova, Ye (2000) Russkiy futurizm ('Russian Futurism'). SPb.

V. N. Terekhina, A. P. Zimenkov (1999) Russkiy futurizm. Teoriya. Praktika. Kritika. Vospominaniya. ('Russian Futurism. Theory. Practice. Criticism. Memoir.'). Nasledie: Moscow.

Russian Futurist manifesto

"A Slap in the Face of Public Taste"