Futurists.

We went up to the three snorting machines to caress their breasts. I lay along mine like a corpse on its bier, but I suddenly revived again beneath the steering wheel — a guillotine knife — which threatened my stomach. A great sweep of madness brought us sharply back to ourselves and drove us through the streets, steep and deep, like dried up torrents. Here and there unhappy lamps in the windows taught us to despise our mathematical eyes. "Smell," I exclaimed, "smell is good enough for wild beasts!"

And we hunted, like young lions, death with its black fur dappled with pale crosses, who ran before us in the vast violet sky, palpable and living.

And yet we had no ideal Mistress stretching her form up to the clouds, nor yet a cruel Queen to whom to offer our corpses twisted into the shape of Byzantine rings! No reason to die unless it is the desire to be rid of the too great weight of our courage!

We drove on, crushing beneath our burning wheels, like shirt-collars under the iron, the watch dogs on the steps of the houses.

And speaking of dogs:

Their art was about disregarding rules, changing the world and analysing things as they moved forwards. The art above is a good example. It’s not a painting of a dog, but a study of the flow of energy as the animal moves through it’s environment. It doesn’t matter where the dog and it’s owner are going or coming from. It’s the act of moving forward that matters here.

Futurism is an art movement with it’s roots deeply ingrained in Italian culture. Inspired by an apparent hatred of Italy’s second hand nature. The futurists reacted viciously against rome, the views represented in the early romantic paintings. Futurism is a belief in artistic aggression, war and moving forward without taking the time to look back.

Many of the futurists willingly signed up for the great war, to fight for their country. They were also all quite young, perhaps explaining their passion and hot headedness. Their manifesto regards courage and recklessness as the ultimate courage and offers a particular fondness for technology and advancement. Their passion and drive is very inspiring and the manifesto itself is written almost poetically.

It’s almost a shame the futurists were all such facists.

http://www.thelemming.com/lemming/teaching/LBST2212/futurists.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/great-works/great-works-dynamism-of-a-dog-on-a-leash-1912-giacomo-balla-1781174.html