HUMS 469: Futurism: Reconstructing the Universe

Spring 2025

MW 11:35a-12:50p

This course explores Italian Futurism, one of the most dynamic and controversial avant-garde movements of the early 20th century. Launched in 1909 by the poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Futurism was not only an artistic and literary movement but also a radical cultural and political project. Futurists celebrated modernity, technology, speed, and violence, often rejecting traditional art and values in favor of innovation and disruption. Futurism called for a radical revitalization of aesthetic expression through “movement and aggression.”  Futurist painters, poets, writers, and musicians rejected Italy’s cultural heritage in favor of new technologies, media, and metaphors, celebrating the speed and exhilarating risks of the machine age. While Futurism borrowed stylistically from Cubism—using collage, painting, and sculpture to match its revolutionary fervor—it went beyond mere formal experimentation. Unlike other avant-garde movements, which focused on transforming artistic form, Futurism aimed to break down the boundaries between art and everyday life.