In
chapter 1 of Performance Art: From
Futurism to the Present RoseLee Goldberg presents a brief history of the
Futurist performance movement, which began in Paris in the early 1900s with
Marinetti’s Futurist Manifesto. Marinetti utilized the political turmoil of Paris
and the existing problems with nationalism and colonialism merged with the dissatisfaction
artists were already beginning to portray. Futurist performances commented on
other tradition art forms as well as political issues of the time and many
traditional artists began to use their medium to support the Futurist movement
and ideals. Thus, performance became a preferred form of presenting ideas for
some. Other artists, such as painters began to utilize their paintings in
performance, as it was viewed as “the most direct means of forcing an audience
to take note of their ideas.” (p 14) Additionally, performance gave artist
opportunities to be both “creators” and “art objects” and comparatively equal
to one another because of the lack of distinction between different types of
artists. (p 14) In other words, painters were no longer separate from poets
because all artists were encouraged to perform, rather than simply make art.
One
aspect I found particularly interesting was the discussion of variety theater.
Variety theater seemed to offer a simplistic glimpse into Futurist performance.
Throughout the chapter, I had a difficult time pinning down a concrete
definition of Futurism. Variety theater seemed, however, to somewhat explain an
aspect of Futurism in it’s desire to distinguish itself from traditional art
forms and masters. The utilization of this distinction to disregarded artistic
rules and instead invented new forms of art, that astonished viewers and
“coerced the audience into collaborations, liberating them from their passive
roles as ‘stupid voyeurs’.” (p 17) This speaks to the idea that Futurist
performers deemed it necessary to surprise the audience with it’s antics in an
effort to deliberately force the viewers into working against conformity and
perhaps questioning many social and political aspects of society. I’m curious
as to why Futurist artists felt such measures needed to be taken. Why did
Futurist performancers have to create such ludicrous production to “disrupt the
complacent public?” (p 14)
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