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Futurism: performance and performativity of a movement

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Scarso, Jacek Ludwig (2024) Futurism: performance and performativity of a movement. In: Futurismi Contemporanei. Paguro Editore, Mercato San Severino (SA), Italy, pp. 70-74. ISBN 9791280259783

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Abstract

There is no question that performance played an important role in Futurism. Performance interventions span across the history of this movement (Goldberg, 2011): from the notorious 'serate' instigated by Marinetti, in which the audience would be purposefully scandalised, provoked and offended, to the futurist music concerts that provided an ancestral root for the aesthetics of synthesised sound in contemporary music (Rodney, 1976), not to mention the Russian counterpart of this movement, which embraced, on stage, such wide a field as to encompass theatre, opera, dance, music and scenic design. What is less talked about is the overall performativity (Van Hantelmann, 2014) of Futurism, beyond the confines of literal performances to a theatre-going audience: such performativity manifests itself in a wide range of futurist expressions, not least their notorious manifestos. In this contribution, originally developed to support the exhibition 'Futurismi Contemporanei' at Villa Valmarana and Palazzo Donà delle Rose in Venice curated by Michele Citro and Andrea Guastella (2024), Dr Jacek Ludwig Scarso draws on the performance and performative strategies employed by Futurism in subverting the cultural status quo and promoting the concept of a 'total artwork'.
(Translated to English by the author (Italian original))

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