Thematic articles

Avant-garde as vision beyond the visible

Stefania Kenley

The avant-garde as vision behind the visual

At the beginning of the 20th century, avant-garde movements had a clearly defined profile: a group of innovative artists with one or more representatives and a provocative manifesto. Although highly controversial at the time, the subject is now part of a closed chapter in modern art history, already analyzed, categorized and agreed upon. In 1955, when Reyner Banham wrote the article "The New Brutalism" in the Architectural Review, he distinguished between two kinds of groupings: "One, such as Cubism, is a label, a mark of recognition, applied by critics and historians to a body of work which seems to be united by certain consistent principles, whatever the relationship of the artists; the other, such as Futurism, is a banner, a slogan, a policy consciously adopted by a grouping, whatever the apparent similarity or difference of their production."1

In 2009, I responded to an invitation from the French architect Odile Decq to reinterpret F.T. Marinetti's Manifesto of Futurism (Manifeste du Futurisme2), published in the Parisian journal Le Figaro a century ago. Recalling that this manifesto contained a number of problematic statements, I responded in a provocative tone, putting forward the idea that the avant-garde was dead! I did not argue this statement with a serious historical analysis, but with a mild form of pamphlet, which I called "Futurism in Paris" (Futurisme à Paris3), reinterpreting one by one the points I had made in 1909:

- "the adoration of danger", compromised by the rapid development of insurance companies, which "take into account" all aspects of everyday life;

- the "beauty of speed", once prized by futurists, transformed into a marketing scheme with the big names of the latest car models;

- "the man behind the wheel, shooting the arrow of his spirit around the world" becomes the subject of mass tourism strategies;

- "the crowd excited by work, pleasure and rebellion" is fervently transformed into "Second Life" computer simulations;

- the "courage, daring and rebellion" of poetry is absorbed by the advertising industry, while the poet who "invests himself with ardor, splendor and generosity" becomes dust, etc.
Read the full text in issue 5 / 2011 of Arhitectura magazine.
1ReynerBanham, "The New Brutalism", The Architecture Review, London, December 1955, p. 3552FilippoTommaso Marinetti, "Manifeste du Futurisme", Le Figaro, Paris, 20th of February 1909.

3 Stefania Kenley, "Futurism in Paris", Special Z, Dec. 2009. http://specialez.esa-paris.fr/?p=121 http://specialez.esa-paris.fr/?p=121
At the beginning of the 20th century an Avant-Garde Movement had a clearly defined profile: a group of innovating artists with one or several spokesmen and with a provocative manifesto.Although highly controversial at the time, today the subject is part of a closed chapter of the modern art history, already analyzed, classified, and mostly agreed upon. In 1955, Reyner Banham distinguished two kinds of group profiles when writing "The New Brutalism" article in the Architectural Review: "One, like Cubism, is a label, a recognition tag, applied by critics and historians to a body of work which appears to have certain consistent principles running through it, whatever the relationship of the artists; the other, like Futurism, is a banner, a slogan, a policy consciously adopted by a group of artists, whatever the apparent similarity or dissimilarity of their products."1In2009, I responded to the invitation of the French architect Odile Decq for giving a new reading of the "Manifeste du Futurisme"2, by F.T. Marinetti published in the Parisian journal Le Figaro, a century earlier. Having in mind this Manifesto as a series of rather problematic declarations, I replied in a provocative tune, advancing the idea that the avant-garde is dead! I did not defend my statement via a serious historical analysis but through the light form of a pamphlet that I called "Futurisme à Paris"3, reinterpreting one by one the initial points spelled out in 1909:

- the "love of danger", compromised by the rapid growth of insurance companies "taking care" of all aspects of the daily life;

- the "beauty of speed" once prized by futurists, turned into a marketing system with resonant names for the latest car models;

- the "man at the wheel, who hurls the lance of his spirit across the Earth", become subject of tourism strategies;

- the "crowds excited by work, by pleasure, and by riot", transformed with fervor in "Second Life" computer simulations;

- the "courage, audacity and rebellion" of poetry, absorbed by the advertising industry, while the poet who "spends himself with ardour, splendor, and generosity", has turned to dust, etc.
Read the full text in the print magazine.
1ReynerBanham, "The New Brutalism", The Architecture Review, London, December 1955, p. 3552FilippoTommaso Marinetti, "Manifeste du Futurisme", Le Figaro, Paris, 20th of February 1909.

3 Stefania Kenley, "Futurism in Paris", Special Z, Dec. 2009. http://specialez.esa-paris.fr/?p=121