I’m not sure anymore what I thought futurism was, but I found Professor Rizzo’s discussion on “Futurism, Violence, and the Re-making of the World,” to informative. One of the first points to capture my interest was the evolution of the human view of nature. While many of us associate nature with something that is good, should be protected, and it pure, futurists saw nature as quite the opposite. Futurists thought of nature as ugly, and unfinished, something that had to be changed. However, as Rizzo noted, much of our experience with nature is second hand, or through a window as he put it, so maybe it is easier to appreciate nature when you don’t have to struggle with it. In many ways humans do think that nature is not up to par with our needs. If it was why would humans change the landscape and face of the earth as much as they do? But in the sense of things in there natural form, there is still much to be appreciated.
Next I was struck by how similar futurism and its movement was to a mass social media movement of today – though not necessarily in terms of its ideas. Marinetti used Le Figaro instead of the Internet though. While I found the emphasis on the relationship between the artist and the audience refreshing, I’m not sure how that played into all the violence found within the Manifesto of Futurism.