Strange Bedfellows looks at the relationship between Futurism and Fascism throughout their time in modern history and the clashes and contrasts between their political and artistic ideologies. Further, it explores the artistic movements that they inspired and how aspects of futurism and fascism have influenced current artistic style and visual art. From Marinetti’s manifesto that started the futurist movement all the way to the collapse of the Nazi regime, Strange Bedfellows delves deep into the power, glory, speed and violence, in order to explore the tense relationship between the two movements.
Futurism was born in Italy in a time where rapid industrialisation and advancements in technology was causing an uproar and backlash at the rapid change. The futurist’s embraced the notions of the future, like the automobile and telephone, and called for wild change and revolt against the stringent academic traditions prevalent in the community. Marinetti sewed the seeds of futurism with his iconoclastic manifesto in 1909, which rejected all notions of the past and spoke of the beauty of speed, machinery and violence. He sought to modernize what he believed was a stagnant and culturally inept Italy. Marinetti travelled to many foreign cities, looking to satiate his thirst for progression and modernism but was still disappointed. He established Futurism in London with artists like Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson following suit. This paved the way for British Vorticism led by Wyndham Lewis, which embraced certain aspects of futurism but played more with abstraction rather than the rectalinear forms of futurism.
The aesthetics of futurism continue to pervade all aspects of art and design. The movement inspired others such as Dadaism and Surrealism and still to this day is fundamental in the rethinking of art, even sewing seeds for post-modernism down the track.
Fascism and futurism, both involved in radical nationalism, shared similar ideologies but never entirely embraced each others artistic style.The Italian Futurists, especially Marinetti, saw the rise of Mussolini and Fascism as a perfect avenue for developing Futurism as a populist movement. Italian fascist propaganda however saw use of bold and simple visual images and colour in order to appeal to the general public. Hitler preferred a strict neo-classisism with Albert Speer and Joseph Goebbels in charge of delivering his fascist propaganda.
The following is an entire proposal for the exhibition design for Strange Bedfellows.
What is Fascism and how does it relate to Futurism?
How does the exhibition explore this?
The artistic elements I use throughout the Strange Bedfellows identity consist of simple shapes, bold colours and collage devices. The use of simple shapes and lines were inspired by both movements. The futurists believed that everything possessed an innate rectilinear construction, that everything was connected and ordered despite the apparent chaos of the visual images they constructed. Fascist propaganda almost always consisted of striking simple images and large eye-catching text in a bid to attract and immerse their citizens with the required message.
The collages depict a modern melange of futurist ‘zaum’ typography and the bold shapes and colour are reminiscent of fascist propaganda. There are two versions, one using only typographic elements and one depicting the two founding fathers of fascism and futurism, Marinetti and Mussolini. The intention was to create a modern juxtaposition between restraint and chaos to highlight the bizarre nature in which the two shared a relationship whilst also maintaining a strong, relevant visual identity.
The bolt device, which is symbolic of the futurist’s desire for technology and the machine, makes reference to the two bolts used to fasten Fortunato Depera’s ‘Futurista’ book together. It is intended to act as both a way finding device and key graphic device in defining the visual identity of the exhibition.
The typography of the exhibition displays a modern yet honest reflection of the period. The Futura font suite is a bold sans-serif that can be applied as a large heading and even as small body copy text. In its many weights, it provides a diverse amount of options and applications to be used throughout the exhibition and depicts the feel of the era without passing up on readability or legibility.
The colours for the identity mirror this rationale. A limited yet bold palette of deep orange, red and black contrast effectively with white and a mild creamy off-white. The cream is used throughout as a background colour, adding interest to what would otherwise be a plain white surface whilst portraying the faded white of old paper with the intention of placing a viewer of the exhibition back into this historic era.
The design for the didactic panels around the exhibition is highly restrained, in order to convey tone without distracting from the actual content of the exhibition. The bolt device is displayed above it as a way finding device. People visiting the exhibition need only to look for the bright orange bolt in order to discover more information on the exhibit.
Exhibitions are powerful and are known to leave fond memories in people. The catalogue for the exhibition is thus intended to be a take home souvenir for one to always hold a piece of the exhibit and to look over after they have already visited. It contains interesting information on the two movements and explores key pieces seen in the exhibition. It will be A5 size perfect bound.
Visitors will also have the option of various take-home promotional items, including a t-shirt design and a small keyring featuring the bolt device. T-shirts are a great souvenir as not only do they act as on-going advertising for the exhibition, it also gives the customer the ability to show that they went to the exhibition and to display their enthusiasm everywhere they go and possibly start conversations with others who notice the shirt. The keyring works in the opposite way, as a much more personal reminder of the exhibition. It is not intended to make a statement but to serve as a small reminder of their time at Strange Bedfellows every time they use their keys.
