Futurism and the Futurist movement was spearheaded by Tommaso Marinetti through his Futurist manifesto published in Le Figaro in 1909 (p. 11). What began as an attack on the establishment of academic art, via writing, coalesced into in art form in itself that was a precursor to modern and contemporary performance art. I find it interesting that in all its anarchic sensibilities Futurism was dictated by manifestos. For example, Piedgrotta, a performance by Marinetti, Giocomo Balla, and Francesco Cangiullo led to the manifesto, Dynamic and Synoptic Declamation which declared "instructions on how to perform" (p. 18).
It's understood that one of the goals and intentions of the movement was to go straight to the public by bypassing the high art aristocracy. I do believe it distinguished itself as a movement outside of the bounds of tradition and created a dialogue with audiences that was formerly nonexistent; however, I believe that the written how to's and how to not's of the Futurist manifestos is indicative of exclusivity. I question the efficacy of the manifestos written by the Futurists in their anti-establishment purpose. In a sense, its pleas for disorder and unpredictability counterintuitively created the movement's own establishment and order.
Marinetti criticized the traditional arts because of the passive role of audience as "stupid voyeurs" (p. 17). In my opinion, this viewpoint puts the responsibility on the artist to create an inclusive and collaborative creative process. I think it's important for performance in art, music, and theatre to help people transcend time and space. I like that, "the mediocre, dull, regurgitated or too well digested" performances that simple applause warrant as explained by Marinetti on page 16 are to be avoided, but I disagree of the Futurists teachings that, "authors and performers [are] to despise the audience". I believe so because performance is so very dependent on the audience.
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