Fortunato Depero - Contemporary influences by Vittoria Romanin

FORTUNATO APRIL

DEPERO 2022

C O N T E M P O R A R Y I N F L U E N C E S

ARTS AND LANGUAGES OF THE PRESENT A.A. 2021/22 PROFESSOR LUCA GUERRINI ASSISTANT ANTONIO AIELLO FORTUNATO DEPERO GROUP 23 ANDREA CAVALLIER, VITTORIA ROMANIN, JAAP FIMME TJEBBES

INCIPIT This short book aims to investigate the influences of Depero’s heritage in the contemporary world, outside the purely artistic context. A multifaceted character like Depero has influenced the most varied fields, from architecture to fashion. Before going into the comparative analysis, a brief introduction to the artist’s life is given. Fortunato Depero was born in Val di Non, in Trentino, in 1892 to a humble family. Trained in a higher institute of applied arts in Rovereto, the first approach to the world of art takes place as a painter and sculptor. Throughout his life, he proved to be a multifaceted artist engaged on various fronts and areas of experimentation: from painting to fashion, from graphics to theatre, from poetry to communication, and from opera to editorial projects. In many respects, his figure is a perfect prototype of the designer’s profession: the appreciation for technological progress and industrial production creates a link between art and industry and lays the foundations for the birth of industrial design. Depero is a creative in search of total art, firmly convinced that there were no hierarchies between one language and another. Despite being one of the leading figures of Italian Futurism, Depero proves to be permeable to the influences of other artistic movements such as expressionism and abstractionism, known during his German-style training in Trentino, and also symbolism, cubism, constructivism, metaphysical art, surrealism, art deco. His adhesion to Futurism is given by the in-

fluence, first of all, of Boccioni’s works, discovered by Depero in Rome in 1913, but above all by his friendship with Giacomo Balla, who becomes his teacher and allows him to join the futurist movement. After a brief interlude at the front, he returned to Rome and prepared his futurist exhibition which opened in the spring of 1916. In the following years, he devoted himself intensely to the development of theatrical works such as ‘Mimismagia’ and ‘Balli plastici’ and to the search for an artistic language that, thanks to the influence of artists such as de Chirico and Carrà, looks beyond futurism. In 1919 Depero returned to Rovereto, destroyed by the war and founded his House of Futurist Art, where he devoted himself to the applied decorative arts, dealing with Advertising, Textile Art, Interior Design and Advertising Architecture. In the early 1920s, he strongly developed his appreciation for technology, machinery and dynamism. These years are the most intense in terms of advertising. Depero works a lot for various companies, but he is above all with the Milanese Campari, producer of the famous Bitter and Cordial, with whom Depero had a close partnership that covered the second half of the 1920s and the beginning of the 1930s. But beyond the graphic creations, the commitment of the futurist is also to product design. This exploration into other creative fields is completely in line with his ‘Futurist Reconstruction of the Universe’, already written in 1915, in which Depero and Balla claim a reenvisioning of every aspect of the world (Guggenheim Foundation, 2014) ). Towards the end of the 1920s, he extends the concept

of typography and abstract verbalization, working on the ‘Bolted Book’, a concept of book-object, and designing the Pavilion of the Book, an example of typographic architecture. In 1928 he left for New York where he worked as a painter, advertiser, and interior and set designer. After two years he returns to Italy profoundly changed. New York changes its vision of a typically futuristic metropolis: not an efficient, sunny and fascinating city but a chaotic, insensitive and violent technological prison. In Italy, Depero finds contact with reality, with concreteness, with the values of the land and of the family. After a period of isolation, he works for fascist corporations, also for economic reasons. The postwar period gives Depero with new pictorial vigour. He revisits himself with a series of works that recall the memory of his heydays. After a second bankruptcy experience in New York, he returned to Italy in 1949, creating various interior arrangements between Milan and Trento and, finally, in 1957 he started the construction of his museum, the first-ever futurist museum, inaugurated in August 1959. He died in 1960 of an incurable disease. All these influences lead Depero to develop a unique and complex language, futuristic but more articulated. This research seeks to highlight, through the chronological division of five chapters, the various facets of the Déperian language and its contaminations, marked by the events, encounters and influences that the artist has had in his life.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

Between two worlds 1907-1916

In the footstep of Futurist 1916-1924

Beyond Futurism 1921 - 1928

- Shingeki no Kyojin, Hajime Isayama Kodansha, 2013 - Romance x PARRA, Piet Parra, 2019 - Bellaforza!, Denis Santachiara, 2013

- Amsterdam Sinfonietta Posters, Studio Dumbar, 2012 - 2022 - Missoni A/W 2014 Campaign, Angela Missoni, Vanessa Reid and Stephen Mann, 2014 - Moncler 5 Spring 2022, Craig Green, 2022 - DangereuXorcisms, NAD (Neu Abdominaux Dangereux), 2014 - Burning Man Festival, various, 1986-2022 - Mantegna, Gaetano Pesce, 2000

- Sneaker, Giovanni Levanti, 2006 - Parrot, Anna G., Alessandro M., Alessandro Mendini, 2003 - Futurismo 3.0, Ceramiche Pierluca, 2015 - Sheara, Chris Bangle, 2019 - Rainbow Church, Tokujin Yoshioka, 2013

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

Campari 1924-33

A Futurist in New York 1928-30

- Campari Light, Raffaele Celentano for Ingo Maurer, 2002 - 2015 by Fortunato Depero, Francesca Valan, 2015 - Ex-Headquarters Campari area, Mario Botta, 2004

- Groninger Museum, Alessandro Mendini, Michele de Lucchi, Philippe Starck, Coop Himmelb(l)au, 1994 - Funkadeli Bar, Matteo Morreli, 2014 - The Futurist Mixology, Fulvio Piccinino, 2014

1907-16

BETWEEN TWO WORLDS

At the beginning of Depero’s carrier, he found himself starting with a grotesque/expressionist approach to reality, which was a popular style in Central Europe. The figures he draws are hard volumes with strong use of shadows. However, in the same years, we can also see a completely different Depero; the Depero after Balla and meeting the Italian futurists. His paintings in the mid-10s show plastic abstract figures made out of geometrical shapes and plane colours, more linked to the animal world instead of the humans one as it was in his first academic works.

Between two worlds

Field: Comic

I prepotenti from Spezzature,1913

Shingeki no Kyojin Shingeki no Kyojin (lit. “The Advancing Giants”) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hajime Isayama. It is set in a world where humanity lives inside cities surrounded by three enormous walls that protect them from the gigantic man-eating humanoids referred to as Titans. The drawings have a reference to the grotesque, especially in the representation of giants, highlighting, almost in an expressionist way, the character and the inner traits of the soul. There is another side in Depero’s stylistic evolution that must be carefully observed. From 1914 until 1917, as well as in his abstract experiments and theatrical works

(as we shall see), the artist was also involved in drawing up a certain number of raw china drawings with an almost xylographic effect.These drawings, rather than approaching typologically futuristic methods, still move from the experience of the grotesques and show clear openings to the expressionist graphic landscape as, probably, seen on the pages of “Das Kunstblatt”, “Die Aktion” or “Der Sturm” (the magazine he later contributed) (1),well known newspapers, considered the continuous relations with the former comrades of the Royal School (then students in Munich or Vienna).

Shingeki no Kyojin

Hajime Isayama

2013

Sketch of Shingeki no Kyojin, Hajime Isayama,2013

Front page of Spezzature,1913

“Shingeki no Kyojin is a work that conveys the mood of the author without compromise ... Isayama says he was bullied at school and uses his manga today to give vent to all his resentment ... I am pleased that he uses photographs of people portrayed in unpleasant expressions as a reference for the graphic characterization of the giants: in this way the manga also conveys the moods and emotions of its models.” (Yoshiyuki Tomino, 2013) 11

Between two worlds

Field: Forniture Design

Bellaforza!

Soldati, Fortunato Depero, 1915

Bellaforza! is an atypical table, deliberately figurative, inspired by the artworks and masterpieces of Italian “Futuristi” (like Carlo Carrà and Fortunato Depero), thought in continuity and consistency with Gufram’s nonconformist approach. The opposite legs that support the table face opposite horizons, but are part of the same system of the same cultural matrix; one could not exist without the other and the impalpable tension between them marks an immovable standstill, and yet a dialogue between the parts. The directions between opposite poles remain bound to-

gether virtually frozen in a growing and revolutionary resistance. In this way the legs grow out of the functional limit of the horizon represented by the glass and are transformed into deconstructed vases: anthropomorphic industrial trunks children of the machine. Two complements which are an integral part of the project, but that can live their own life in the dining-room, serving the function of as applicable a centrepiece, a fruit bowl, or a vase that can be placed somewhere else to hold wonderful flowers of hope or precious mementos from the past.

Bellaforza!

Denis Santachiara

2013

Photographs of Bellaforza! by Denis Santachiara

Between two worlds

Field: Sportswear

GLI

AVVENIMENTI

1916

The work of Depero from this period, although strongly influenced by his friend and master Balla, was characterized by a greater plastic drive that connoted the large flat-tinted backgrounds, the recurring subject of his research. In this regard, in the end of January 1916 issue of Gli Avvenimenti (The Events) Umberto Boccioni published an interesting account of Depero’s visit to his studio, that is of his encounter-clash with the impetuous young futurist whom he reproached for “daring too much“.

Gli Avvenimenti, Fortunato Depero, 1916

“will also be very useful to the adults, since we’ll keep it young, agile, festive, casual, ready for anything, tireless, instinctive and intuitive” (Archivio Depero, 2022)

Kiki Golà, Fortunato Depero

RomancexParra

2019

balization of Depero has yet to come, you could already see the first signs in the years 14/15, as in the collage in figure FIXME. Lastly, we especially picked this piece of clothing from Parra, for the fact that it is a bicycle racing jersey, resembling well with a growing obsession for speed and movement of an upcoming futurist. It is unknown to us, whether Parra took direct inspiration from Depero’s work, but it is known that Parra’s style is heavily influenced by abstract art (Dickey, 2022 ). One could argue that since Piet Parra is also considered an artist, this case study is out of scope. However, since this concerns clothing that has been produced on large scale for commercial purposes, we consider this an example from fashion design. Photos of the cycling shirt produced by Romance designed by Piet Parra

Romance x PARRA

We would argue that this jersey resembles the artistic elements of Depero’s Abstract period. First of all, the saturated blue and red tints that are predominantly used in the jersey, are colours that were commonly used by Depero at that time. Besides, rounded-off shapes, lines and patterns form the basis for both the clothing and the artworks. Thirdly, during the mid-1910s, Depero took a lot of inspiration from doing analogical research on animals forms, as can be seen in ‘Kikigolà’ and ‘Testa Grivelli’ (Scudiero, 1989). In the cycling jersey, you also see the presence of a black abstracted animal creature, that appears to be a mix up of a dog and a hare. Fourthly we see a connection between Parra’s work and that of Depero, through the use of bold and free-floating typography of the brand name ‘Romance’. Although the heyday of the abstract ver-

Piet Parra

IN THE FOOTSTEP OF A FUTURIST

1916-24

This chapter describes the period in which Depero breaks through as a real futurist artist. Although Depero joined the movement later on, he was still accepted by Martinelli and co., especially after writing, together with his friend Balla, the famous manifesto “Futurist Reconstruction of the Universe”. Depero extends the language beyond the context of pictorial art, further increasing his relevance in the movement. Depero’s dynamic costumes and sets for the plastics ballets, his abstract verbalization, his textiles and completely decorated ‘Casa Di Futurismo’ are considered masterpieces of the Futurist language (Archivio Depero, 2022). During this period, Depero also starts experimenting with the concept of ‘ephemeral’ and ‘advertising’ architecture (Archivio Depero, 2022).

In the footsteps of a futurist

Field: Graphic Design

“an abstract, poetic verbalization, as a hypothetical universal language, immediately and perceptually, understandable.” (Archivio Depero, 2022)

Parolibera and Campanelli, Fortunato Depero

ABSTRACT

VERBALIZATION

In 1912 came out the two important technical manifestos of Letteratura Futurista. The following year, instead, the other important operational manifesto, that of Immaginazione senza fili and Parole in libertà. Then, in 1914, Marinetti published

Zang Tumb Tuuum a revolutionary book where the text, broken any orthogonal cage, exploded on the page. Depero, on his turn, joined paroliberism moving from another conceptual point, that is, not a literary one. (Archivio Depero, 2022)

Amsterdam Sinfonietta Posters

Studio Dumbar

Amsterdam Sinfonietta Posters Studio Dumbar is a Rotterdam based graphic design and branding studio founded by Gert Dumbar in 1977 (Creative Bloq, 2013). The study is one of the most profound graphic design studios in The Netherlands, but its influence has widely crossed the Dutch borders. For this case study, we would specifically want to focus on the branding for the Amsterdam Sinfonietta. The Amsterdam Sinfonietta is an independent music ensemble performing classical concerts. Every year another designer of Dumbar studio can design a series of five to six posters for the upcoming shows for that year (Offset, 2022). So while every year the designer is different, the graphic style is still recognizable as a coherent set and closely resembles the Abstract Verbalisation of Depero. Much like the work of Depero, the bold

2012-2022

logotype and typographical elements on the posters do not follow any perpendicular lines and seem to have exploded on the page. Even more clearly than his teacher Marinetti, Depero’s paroliberlism work was inspired by sounds, noise and onomalingua to create “an abstract, poetic verbalization, as a hypothetical universal language, immediately and perceptually, understandable.” (Archivio Depero, 2022). Therefore we think that the work of studio Dumbar is an ideal case example since the posters also show a dynamic graphical representation of the fleeting notion of music and sounds during a concert (D&AD, 2020). On top of that, we see similarities in the colour palettes of Depero & Studio Dumbar. Once again, we have no specific source claiming that Studio Dumbar took direct inspiration from Depero, and the concept of floating typography can be seen by a lot of other (graphical) artists, but it is for sure that Depero was one of the founding fathers of this artistic idea.

Amsterdam Sinfonietta Posters from 2020

In the footsteps of a futurist

Field: Fashion Design

Missoni A/W 2014 Campaign For the campaign of 2014-15 fall/winter season of Italian luxury fashion house Missoni, help is as called of Photographer Viviane Sassen, working under the art direction of Studio M/M Paris. The result is a shoot where top models Joan Smalls and Justin Burnhill are portrayed in a desolate and ruined future landscape. While the woman appears to be the only remaining form of human life, they are accompanied by mysterious robot-like aliens made out of colourful and playful geometrical shapes (Grieco, 2014) (Sortini, 2014). Among the futurist, Depero was the one who was probably most concerned with fashion. Ever since his first costume design in 1916 for ‘Mimismagia’ mimic-acrobatic ballet, Depero has put a lot of research and work into the creation of costumes, theatrical sets, tapestries and decorative fashion (Archivo Depero, 2022). His textile work was characterized by colourful woven patterns made out of geometrical shapes. It is known that Rosita and Ottavio, the parents of Angela & founders of the fashion brand, privately owned some Futurist garments of Depero, so it is no coincidence that many of characteristics of Depero can be found in this collection: The woven texture, the geometrical shapes and, the colour combinations (Galambosova, 2021). On top of that, the abstract robot figures used in the campaign wouldn’t look out of place in one of Depero’s mechanical plays or plastic ballets.

Photograph of Depero’s ‘Panciotti Futuristi’

Missoni A/W 2014 Campaign

Angela Missoni, Vanessa Reid and Stephen Mann

2014

Photographs from Missoni A/W 2014 Campaign made by Viviane Sassen (Studio M/M Paris

In the footsteps of a futurist

Field: Fashion Design

Moncler 5 Craig Green Spring 2022 This is the newest collection that London based fashion designer Craig Green made for Moncler the Italian/French fashion brand. The fashion designer is known for his experimental, exuberant and futuristic designs, that touch upon themes like functionality, innovation and protection (Moncler S.p.A, 2018). Craig presents 2 types of 3D garments in different bright colourways, made up of all sorts of protruding physical forms. For this collection Craig was inspired by seafaring, as can be seen in several elements: the inflatable tubes of lifeboats, the sou’wester hats, the pole structures, and the circle shape on a square background (i.e. nautical signal flag) (Leitch, 2022).

Not surprisingly, his work is frequently described as a form of kinetic sculpture, tents or kites (Yalcinkaya, 2019). Therefore we want to argue that the work of Craig Green, with the Moncler 2022 collection as an example, shares a lot of artistic elements and beliefs with the costumes of Depero. Looking at the sketches for ‘Mimismagia’ or the scenes and costumes for ‘Il Balletto canto dell’usignolo’, we also see the spot-colour and geometrical out of body volumes, creating some sort of abstract kinetic exoskeleton. The fact that Craig Green is fond of using technical fabrics and materials further strengthens the connection with Depero.

Photograph of the dress presented at the Moncler 5 Spring 2022

Moncler 5 Craig Green Spring 2022

Craig Green

2022

“actors are replaced by “abstract individualities” immersed in a scenic-color space. These abstract entities are phono-chromatic in the sense that they give out sounds that materialize into color-forms.” (Archivio Depero, 2022)

Sketch of two plastic costume for Mimismagia by Fortunato Depero

In the footsteps of a Futurist

Field: Music

DangereuXorcisms

This is the 3rd and final last album of the Italian jazz / experimental rock band Neu Abdominaux Dangereux (NAD). The group was founded in Verona in 1987 and active until 1990 and then reformed in 2014. That this band is strongly influenced by the futurism art movement is a euphemism. The music is an energetic mixture of jazz and electronica with a high tempo. It is full of samples of the everyday life sounds in cities and quotes from films, radio news or TV programs. For instance the song ‘Europa?’, is an experimental electronic mix-up of Angela Merkel speeches (Kutmusic, 2018). The song ‘Bernacca’ is constantly interrupted by fragments of the eponymous Italian general and meteorologist (Kutmusic, 2014). Pornstar Baby Pozzi is giving her ‘moaning’ contribution in the song ‘Brasilia Carnavaux’ and listening to the song ‘The Shoppers’ you imagine yourself in a busy city centre, with the noise of people and claxons of cars (Napoli, 2016). In the song, ‘Feet Music’, you can easily recognize the ‘Art of Noice’. Also the video clips of NAD are a high tempo mixture of everyday fragments and abstract technological images. The relationship with Depero in particular can be found on the album cover, where figures from the painting ‘Diavoletti neri e bianchi, Danza di diavoli’ and the poster of ‘Cabaret del diavolo’ are exact copies.

Advertisement for Cabaret del Diavolo by Fortunato Depero

DangereuXorcisms

NAD (Neu Abdominaux Dangereux)

2014

Kutmusic. (2018). NAD (Neu Abdominaux Dangereux) “Europa?”. LINK TO THE VIDEO

In the footsteps of a Futurist

Field: Event Design

Burning Man Festival Burning Man is a yearly multi-day festival that is been held in the remote Black Rock Desert in Nevada. Burning Man began in 1986 when two friends, Larry Harvey and Jerry James burned a 2.7-meter-tall wooden Wicker Man on San Francisco’s Baker Beach. People spontaneously came to the fire and a party started. This became a tradition with more guests coming every year. In 1990 Larry and Jerry decided to go bigger and moved the event to Black Rock. Burning Man is described by participants as an experimental society with radical self-expression and radical self-sufficiency. There is no fixed instal-

lation or facilities of any kind, so every year the new visitors built up the festival from scratch (Burning Man Project, 2022). This case studies a bit more abstract and imaginative since it is not a self-contained physical design with clear visual styles or shapes. And, however it is unlikely that Larry and Jerry were thinking about Depero when they set fire to the Wicker Man, we are quite convinced that the philosophy and ideas behind Burning Man would be appreciated by Depero. First of all, like many futurists, Depero advocated ephemeral architecture (Archivio

Burning Man Festival

Various Designers

1986-2022

Photograph of one ephemeral architecture made for Burning Man Festival 2019

Depero, 2022). Buildings should not be built to last forever, providing the possibility to use new technologies. Burning Man is a pure form of ephemeral thinking. At the end of the festival, the whole site is cleared or burned down. Second, at Burning Man there are no are not existing conventions or traditional values to rely

on. There are little to no rules and people can freely express themself. Visitors are not concerned with the past and live an energetic life in the present. This aligns well with the artistic and societal ideas of a futurist, like Depero (White, 2019).

“The fundamental characteristics of futurist architecture will be transitoriness and caducity. Houses will last less than we do.” (Futurist Architecture Manifesto) Aereal Photo of the Burning Man Festival’s camp

In the footsteps of a Futurist

Field: Forniture Design

ADVERTISEMENT ARCHITECTURE Hence projects and achievements of advertising pavilions, such as the one designed for the Presbitero Pencils, and the typographic one, the Book Pavilion, realized at the III Biennial of Decorative Arts held in Monza in 1927, a perfect example of typographic architecture. Commissioned by the publishing houses Bestetti and Tumminelli and by the Treves Brothers, it was built according to the criterion that the shape of these exhibition pavilions should be determined by the objects they contain and for which they are built. In this sense, Depero made a substantial contribution to the new architecture. (Archivio Depero, 2022) Photograph of Depero’s Book Pavilion for the III Biennal of Decorative arts in Monza

“Design should not be limited to being a practical expression of form or decoration; it should rather communicate the artist’s point of view, in this specific case, its content should have been linked to the art history of the past”. (Gaetano Pesce)

Photograph of Gaetano Pesce’s library Mantegna

Mantegna

Gaetano Pesce

2000

Mantegna Assonometric and frontal view of Mantegna library by Gaetano Pesce

The piece of furniture celebrates the artist’s name: the letters that make up the name Mantegna become a system of shelves on a structure that instead reproduces the profile of the face. The prototype is made of wood, while the final version is made of semi-elastic, polychrome and translucent resin. This is how also in this case the role of typography extends beyond the usual,

gaining strength, becoming three-dimensional, literally giving weight to the word. There can be three connections to the Déperian language: the plastic-architectural use of the typographic element, as in the 1926 Book Pavilion, the experimentation of the material and the use of color as a means to strengthen the communication of the object.

BEYOND FUTURISM 1921-28

After the heydays of the Italian Futurist period, Depero keeps developing the themes of a playful life in which the toys are objects of life. He thinks about furniture as an object for playing and humanizes mechanical machines. He finds a fertile ground in plastic theatre, in which objects becomes living characters. During this period he also takes influences from the more dreamy metaphysical language and studies the ‘Architecture of Light’.

Beyond Futurism

Photograph of Balli Plastici Puppets realized from Fortunato Depero sketches

BALLI

Field: Product Design

PLASTICI

Fortunato Depero imagined the creation of “plastic complexes” endowed with both movement and sound, real “artificial beings” he imagined them for the world of theatre, Mendini instead, many years later, uses the same line of thought to see in a different way objects of our daily life as a

abottle opener. Painting a screw to make it become an eye, and color the body of a bottle opener with colorful tones makes it become a parrot. (Archivio Depero, 2022)

“Anna G., my corkscrew-doll dancing on a bottle” (Alessandro Mendini, 2011) 32

Corkscrews

Photograph of Parrot by Alessandro Mendini

Photograph of Anna G. and Alessandro M by Alessandro Mendini

Alessandro Mendini

2003

Anna G., Alessandro M., Parrot Mendini has been strongly influenced by Depero’s idea of giving to object humans or animals shapes. In an interview with Luca Violo Mendini said “And if we talk about languages to which I have always been fond and interested, they are mainly languages of painting, compared to the languages of design or architecture, and in particular those of artists such as Sav-

33 01

inio, Carrà, Depero, or movements such as cubism. or the cubism of Prague, but always with a mental and emotional core of a person born here, in Milan, at a time when the culture was there and was made by these people, who still resists and lives inside me.” (Alessandro Mendini, 2011)

Beyond Futurism

Field: Animation, Short Movie

PUPPETS

The aim of the theatrical project by Depero and Clavel was to demonstrate that besides subverting the scenography, it was necessary to eliminate also the actors, replacing them with the puppets. In other words they wanted to propose the overcoming of the same Russian Ballets by implementing the transposition of the Puppet Theater into the language of the new Cubist-Futurist forms where dialogue, as Albert Sautier has well observed, ‘is replaced by pure mimic action’.

Inanimatti Production. (2020). Sheara. LINK TO THE VIDEO Rotazione di ballerina e pappagalli, Fortunato Depero, 1917/18

‘Actors are replaced by pure mimic action’ (Albert Sautier)

Sheara

Chris Bangle

2019

Sketches of Sheara made by Chris Bangle

“the Inanimatti population are living ‘things’: architecture; products, furniture, objects.” (Chris Bangle, 2019)

Sheara The essence of car design is to give character and personality to an object. People have to identify with the product they have in front and say ‘yes, that’s exactly me!’ You could adopt the principles of car design to create anything, from a bottle to a phone” Bangle explains. But which professional figure is best able to give objects a soul? Animators, of course. “That’s why we turned to them and a new world opened up for us.” From this experience it was born Objectomy, the new philosophy of the studio that 35

goes beyond the classic user experience and discovers the intrinsic potential of things, more alive and intelligent than ever before. The discourse can be extended to architecture as well, if you think of it as a living being, and help us to exercise imagination and, consequently, empathy

Beyond Futurism

Field: Forniture Design

Sneaker

Cavaliere Piumato, Fortunato Depero, 1923

Levanti’s creations are fantastic, polymorphic, varied and characterized by a multiplicity of functions, as well as by a refined and playful aesthetics. Through the ultimate abolition of the formal obviousness, Levanti gives a new intended use to the objects, by extending their use beyond the main one. Giovanni Levanti leads a silent battle against the traditional padded furniture. Focusing on the posture of individuals, he designs sofas and chairs that envelop the body, supporting it without compulsion.

FURNITURE

GAME

Depero’s achievements in the area of furniture were less mechanical than one would have expected: in reality the furniture he created always referred to the “playful” instance that crosses the Futurist Reconstruction of Universe, as stated in the Manifesto signed with Balla in 1915. As a consequence, for Depero, the object always remained something “alive” that had to go beyond the pure “functional” data and charge itself with additional, if not provocative stories. It was also the line of the manifesto Il mobilio futurista, i mobili a sorpresa parlanti e paroliberi (Futurist furniture, the talking and wordmark surprise furniture), signed by Cangiullo in 1920, in which the basic data were the same, namely to save the «sympathy of things threatened by intransigent functionalism», or in other words to prevent what was defined as the” psychological and emotional divorce “between man and the objects of his daily life. A problem that often crossed the art and architecture of the 1920s.

Photographs of Sneaker by Giovanni Levanti

Sneaker

Giovanni Levanti

2006

‘The project is always something complex, I have found my own way trying to capture ideas, looking for the unknown through insecurity, unconsciousness and dispersion in that particular moment of the design process that I like to call the human purity.” (Giovanni Levanti, 2006)

Beyond Futurism

Field: Architecture

MAGIC OF A VITREOUS DREAM Returning to our chronology, and taking a step back, in 1924 Depero painted a work titled Spazialità lunari or Convegno in uno smeraldo (Lunar Spatiality or Meeting inside an emerald). The subject represents three robot men sitting at the table inside a crystal house. Ordering element: the light that shapes with its architecture, into linear, solidified directions, the whole environment. The work is almost monochromatic, there is a sort of lunar atmospere, in shades of blue, as if the subjects were seen through a crystal. This work, together with La Ricamatrice (The Embroideress), painted two years before, is another example of that architecture of light theorized by Depero. (Archivio Depero, 2022)

Spazialità lunari or Convegno in uno smeraldo, Fortunato Depero 1924

Rainbow Church

Tokujin Yoshioka

2013

“The sun gives life, the sun gives colors and now the sun gives a new architecture to Art” (Tokujin Yoshioka, 2013)

Close up photo of the material used to realize the Rainbow Church

Rainbow Church

Photo of the interior of the Rainbow Church by Tokujin Yoshioka

The Rosaire Chapel designed by Henri Matisse was polished throughout his last years. Tokujin visited this chapel located in Vence in his early 20’s, and has a mysterious experience of being filled with overwhelming light and vibrant colors. Astonished by this chapel, Tokujin cames up with the idea of the architecture Rainbow Church: as one of the important elements in the architecture project Rainbow Church, the stained glass composed of 500 crystal prisms converts natural rays into rainbow color so that “miraculous light” appears in

the space, filling the visitors and integrating them with nature. The miraculous light produced by the solar energy becomes a sculpture, and creates a space where the nature and the architecture are unified. This work matches perfectly the idea od the vitreous dream of depero and also his architecture of light. In Prismi lunari (Lunar Prisms) of Depero this modelling action of light is considerably reduced as now the key element is the alienating factor of color.

Beyond Futurism

Field: Product Design

Futurismo 3.0 On the centenary of the Futurist Reconstruction of the Universe, Ceramiche Pierluca presents a surprising collection that, combining creativity, history and contemporary taste, recounts and brings to mind the experience of Second Futurism. In the ceramic sector, Ligurian Futurism has brought a significant innovative approach, transited into the very rich avant-garde tradition of the Giuseppe Mazzotti manufacturing above all at the hands of Tullio (d’Albisola) and Torido Mazzotti. The original futurist plastic with large chromatic effects and the dynamic invention of shapes, always combined

with the functionality of the object, remains the source of inspiration for the Futurism 3.0 collection. An original and captivating proposal that “wants to surprise with the quality of the materials, the refined decoration and the chromatic care, restoring an extraordinary modernity to the pieces”. Compositions are rich in balance, with attention to details, also based on the reinterpretation of historical motifs to restore the enhancement and updating of Ceramiche di Albisola to the contemporary world.

Photograph of a single piece from the collection of Futurismo 3.0 by Ceramiche Pierluca

Futurismo 3.0

Ceramiche Pierluca

2015

Treno Partorito del sole, Fortunato Depero 1925

In the mid-Twenties the strong mechanical component in the art of Depero was slowly diminishing to open up to the irrepressible revival of a marked sensitivity to natural flows that had already fascinated the artist over the Tens. In this sense, 1924 proved to be an emblematic year and it was lived among opposite trends as we can see in works like Anihccam, danza meccanica dell’anno 3000 and Treno partorito dal sole which, on the other hand, try with strength an almost pantheistic mediation between the Machine (ie Modernity) and Nature.

In this chapter we’ll mainly see some works of Depero during his Campari advertisement period. While his work for the drink started before New York, he kept working for the company up until his death. Depero’s work for Campari was so important that he can be seen as the founder of the iconic brand identity. Especially after the production of Depero’s infamous soda bottle in 1932. Depero’s work for Campari will remain inspiration for contemporary architects and designer such as Mario Botta and Ingo Maurer as we will see.

CAMPARI 1907-14

Campari

Field: Product Design

Campari Light

Raffaele Celentano

2002

Campari Light

The bottle designed by depero becomes a light. The liquid inside it create an atmosphere, the texture of the glass a pattern of shadows. In 1944 he painted Rito e splendori d’osteria (Custom and glories of the tavern) which marked a resolute return to his best painting: interpenetration, architecture of light, multi-perspective vision, all in an apparent, but wise, monochromatic style. Campari Light of Raffaele Celentano it’s an object that brings all this meanings in contemporary age.

The original Campari Light suspension lamp was designed by Raffaele Celentano for Ingo Maurer in the year 2002. Campari Light is a unique pendant lamp that is made up of ten original Campari Soda bottles, each removable and replaceable with new Campari bottles. With the Campari bottle cap the lamp is steplessly adjustable in height, and the red brilliant light makes for perfect bar lighting.

Poster of Campari Soda by Fortunato Depero Sketches of the bottle for Campari Soda made by Fortunato Depero. Photograph of Campari Light

Campari

Field: Graphic Design

Limited edition of Campari Bottle made by Francesca Valan for EXPO 2015 Original Sketch of the Futurist Pavilion by Fortunato Depero,1933

2015 by Fortunato Depero The 2015 collection feature a sketch of the Campari pavilion designed in 1933 for the International Exposition by Futurist artist Fortunato Depero, reimagined with the use of contemporary colours. . The three Art Labels were crafted to generate a standout effect similar to that of a neon sign, which allows Depero’s futuristic sketch to jump out further and brings the labels effortlessly into the 21st century. (Campari, Art Label Collection, 2022)

The art label collection

Francesca Valan

2014-15

2014 by Fortunato Depero The second label on a yellow background depicts a collage dating back to 1927. The image takes up a sketch, the original of which is kept in the archive of the Galleria Campari collection, created by the artist with colored pencils. It represents the pleasure and passion of enjoying a Campari: the most evident detail of the portrayed character is his heart, which is colored as the liquid in the glass. (Campari, Art Label Collection, 2022)

Limited edition of Campari Bottle made by Francesca Valan Original Sketch for Campari by Fortunato Depero,1927

Campari

Field: Architecture

Ex-Campari Headquarters Recovering the historical memory of the company and enhancing its value: these are the objectives of the restoration of the Campari plant in Sesto San Giovanni. In 2009 the project by Mario Botta and Giancarlo Marzorati was able to redevelop the entire area in the Milanese suburbs, where in 1904 Davide Campari had built the new headquarters of the company, which remained active until 2005 (when production moved to Novi Ligure) and has now been recovered. The architects’ intervention safeguards the historic building from the last century by creating a new volume that frames the 20th century structure, harmonizing with its style, colors and materials. The architects Mario Botta and Giancarlo Marzorati have paid homage to the artist by creating two bas-reliefs on the short sides of the historic building, a man on one side and a woman on the other drinking Campari, which faithfully reproduce two sketches signed by Depero. Photographs of Campari Headquarters project by Mario Botta Mosca S., Depero incontra Botta a Sesto e assieme si bevono un campari, La Repubblica, 2010

Ex-Campari Headquarters

Mario Botta

Photograph of Campari Headquarters project by Mario Botta Original Sketch of the Futurist Pavilion by Fortunato Depero,1933.

2004

A FUTURIST IN NEW YORK 1928-30

Obsessed with the metropole, Depero decides to leave for New York in September 1928. In the two years that he stays on the other side of the Atlantic ocean, Depero has a high production and he gains a lot of life experience. In addition to his graphic work for magazines such as Vogue & Vanity Fair, he designs theater sets and furnishes two restaurants. In the big city he comes into contact with constructivism and art deco and elements of these styles are adopted in his own artistic expressions (Archivio Depero, 2022).

A Futurist in New York

Field: Architecture

Photograph of the extern of Groninger Museum

Groninger Museum In previous chapters, we already stated that Alessandro Mendini was inspired by the artistic elements of Depero. That he also inspired others with his affection for Depero can be seen in the renovation of the Groninger Museum; a fine collaboration between several of the greatest modern designers and architects (Alessandro Mendini (head architect), Michele de Lucchi, Philippe Starck & Coop Himmelb(l)au.) (Groninger Museum, 2022). Mendini’s main principles for the design were: no hierarchy in the art disciplines, abundant use of decorations and collaboration with guest designers. (Groninger Museum, 2022). The idea of no hierarchy in the art of course resembles well with Depero’s “Manifesto manifesto dell’universo” in which he argues that futurism

Photgraph of the interior of the Groeninger Museum

Groninger Museum

Alessandro Mendini, Michele de Lucchi, Philippe Starck, Coop Himmelb(l)au

1994

New York, Fortunato Depero, 1930

ideas should not be limited to the realm of art and should be expressed in all aspects of life (Reif, 1999). Besides, we believe that Mendini et al. also found a lot of inspiration for this postmodern building in the work “Grattacieli e tunnel” by Depero. The overlapping orientation of different masses of the building creates the same dynamic and sense of movement that can be seen in the painting. The colourful blue Proust motives on the exterior of the building in combination with the bright yellow tower and red tints of the Himmelb(l)au Pavillion correspond well with the colours used in the painting. Also, the interior of the building is in line with Depero’s philosophy. The experimental architecture of the building relies heavily on technology, however, all the architects put effort into making the interior playful and decora-

tive (Groninger Museum, 2022). Exactly like Depero’s vision of how technology should be playful (Archivio Depero, 2022). Architectural critics state that the building expresses more styles besides the predominantly Neo-futurism style of Medini. The fragmented use of materials in the Himmel(l)au Pavilion is closer to Constructivism (Architectuul, 2022). But it is precisely the openness towards influences from other art movements that made Depero a unique futuristic artist. During his time in New York, Depero was much influenced by Constructivism (Depero, 1940). So therefore this is probably one of the best architectural examples to explain the diversity of Depero’s work.

A Futurist in New York

Field: Interior and Graphic Design

Funkadeli Bar

Photograph of the interior of Ristorante Enrico & Pagliesi, wall paper costumized by Fortunato Depero

Funkadeli is a traditional Aperitivo Bar in the middle of Shanghai. It was founded by four Italians who asked their friend Morreli to do the bars communication and interior design (That’s, 2022). The result is a completely Depero minded bar: from the wallpaper to the lamps to the menu. The similarities between the Depero styled Zucca Restaurant and Enrico Paglieri Restaurant in New York are far-reaching. Starting with walls. Just like Depero’s work, the whole bar is decorated with dynamic black, white and red patterns. On these energetic patterns, you can find a mixture of staggering typography and figures of utensils that have come to life. And

Funkadeli Bar

just like Depero did in his ‘Casa d’Arte Futurista’, the pattern decoration is not limited to the walls, but the ceiling and floor are also covered to create one holistic immersive space. The main graphical element, saying “Eat, Drink, Love”, is surrounded by three puppet-like figures that could have been drawn by Depero himself. Also, the special relationship between Depero and Campari is not forgotten: The lightbulbs are surrounded by small Campari soda bottles. On the menu, you can find

Matteo Morreli

2014

the same imaginative graphic style and colour palettes that Depero used in his graphic designs (Morelli, 2016). And, just like Marinetti demanded in his “La Cucina Futurista”, the cocktails are composed mainly of Italian digestives (Bailey, 2018).

Photographs of the interiors of Funkadeli Bar

A Futurist in New York

Field: Food Design

The Futurist Mixology The Futurist Mixology’ is the work of bartender Piccinino working at the Cocchi Company. This company has a long-lasting history of producing wine-based aperitifs lasting back to 1891 and had its glory days during the Futurist period (Giulio Cocchi Spumanti Srl, 2022). For this book, Piccinino did profound research into the beliefs futurists had about food & drinks. Futurists, loved to write down manifestations of all aspects of society, so they also made a manifestation about dinner time; Marinetti’s 1932 ‘La Cucina futuristic’. In short, the futurist stated that eating and drinking were a shortcut to manipulating a dream state and could be used to address political and social issues. In practice, eating would become a surprising experience in which small portions of flavourous food would quickly be served, and perfumes would further stimulate the senses (Punch, 2022). “Cocktails, or ‘Polibibite’, should be paired with coloured lighting and strange perfumes.” (Hayes, 2018). While sounding crazy, the impact of has been tremendous as can be seen in many nowadays haute cuisine restaurants. In Futurist Mixology, Piccinino tries to follow this principle of surprise in his Polibite. In the book, you find ingredients like cheese, anchovies, chocolate and hardboiled egg yolk. And the names of the

The Futurist Mixology

Fulvio Piccinino

cocktails are Aperol Spritz Jello Shots and “Cup Of Shivers” (Hayes, 2018) (Punch 2022). One could argue that this case study is more fitting for the futurist movement in general, but since Depero would have been eager to learn all the drinking rules from his teacher Marinetti, it’s easy to imagine Depero enjoying a Futurist Mixology cocktail at one of his own designed bars in New York. Besides doing multiple advertisement jobs for Italian drinking companies and his special relationship with Campari we found this extraordinary case study fitting. (Archivio Depero, 2022)

2014

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ARTS AND LANGUAGES OF THE PRESENT A.A. 2021/22 PROFESSOR LUCA GUERRINI FORTUNATO DEPERO GROUP 23 ANDREA CAVALLIER, VITTORIA ROMANIN, JAAP FIMME TJEBBES