Please read the following:
Marinetti, Filippo, “The Founding and Manifesto of Futurism” (1909).
And please watch the following film:
To New Horizons, General Motors production (1940). (Shown in class and available on YouTube via the following link: https://youtu.be/4F5iMXMloYE — you can begin at the 8:00 minute mark).
Buoyed by a faith in the promise and potentialities of technology, many people bagan to take seriously the idea of theorizing about remaking society according to a utopian vision during the “modern” period of the twentirth century. However, society can and does consist of a vast array of diverse viewpoints. That is to say, one person’s idea of utopia may be another person’s idea of dystopia.
Keep this in mind when addressing the following points in a well-written, 300-400 word essay (feel free to exceed this amount if you have more to say):
Of the three “materials of modernism” that we identified and discussed in class, focus on one of the materials and explain how the mass production of that particular material impacted society. In other words, what aspects of society changed due to the mass influx of this particular material?
In his “Founding and Manifesto of Futurism,” Filippo Marinetti embraces technology and celebrates the “new” while disparaging the “old,” or the past. How is Marinetti’s manifesto an example of “technological fundamentalism”? How do the modern theories and practical applications articulated by Theo van Doesburg (De Stijl [The Style]) and Walter Gropius (The Bauhaus) differ from Marinetti’s stated vision of Futurism?
The General Motors produced video that we watched in class, To New Horizons, offers a highy optimistic view of the future. What aspects of society and technology does the video highlight and what aspects does it ignore or omit? (Include at least two examples of each). Why do you think the video highlights specific aspects over others?
Explain, as best you can in your own words, the theoretical concept of “Universal Design” (also referred to as “dismodernism” by disability studies scholar Lennard Davis). How do the modernist movements of De Stijl (The Style) and The Bauhaus influence and inform the contemporary movement of Universal Design? Can you identify any current technologies that could potentially help to practically realize aspects of Universal Design in the same way that certain technologies helped practically realize the ideas of the “The Style” and The Bauhaus in the early to mid-twentieth century?
In this essay, as with all essays for this course, be sure to use examples from the class readings and lectures to support your arguments. When quoting text, always include the author’s name and the page number where you found the quote. For example: Marinetti, p. 2. For this essay, feel free to include outside sources if you believe that they may help you to better explain your arguments. If you do bring in outside sources, be sure to properly cite them. Do not forget to include at least two (2) direct quotes from the reading(s) for this assignment.
