Marinetti and Italian Futurist Typography

Author(s): David Cundy

Source: Art Journal, Vol. 41, No. 4, Futurism (Winter, 1981), pp. 349-352
Published by: College Art Association
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Italian
Marinetti and
Typography

Futurist

David Cundy
Whenthe originsof twentieth-century
typog- raphy.In it, Mallarmeused type to create color in the sense of tonality,intensityand
andemotivepatterns
commentrevealsa
Marinetti, figurative
raphyaresought,FilippoTommaso
complementary weight.ThusMarinetti's
the founderof theFuturist
in Italy, to the contentof his poetry.Apollinaire,
movement
influ- keen perceptionof theirvaluesif not their
andMarinetti,
created actualpractice.
emergesas one of the primaryforcesin the encedbybothMallarme
of
His
a
aesthetic.
Techwhat
he
called
and
Marinetti
Calof
(in
moder
1914)
development
proposedalsotheabandonment
Ideograms
nical Manifestoof FuturistLiteratureof 11 ligrams (in 1918), figurative
of adjectives
syntax,theelimination
poemsin which traditional
theshapes,forexample, andadverbs,theemployment
of mathematical
May1912 outlineda literaryformulawhich typesetwordsimitated
in graphicpresenta- of rainfallor a heart.Thismerelyamounted
a revolution
to
and musicalsymbolsto supplantstandard
precipitated
tionandvisualperception.l
a refinement
of Mallarme's
earlierexperiments. punctuation,
andthefreeruseofonomatopoeia
Marinetti
initiatedhis radicalaestheticin- Theutilization
of typography
asa visualelement ("whichservestovivifylyricalcontentwiththe
novationsin an atmosphere
of technological in its ownrightwasfirstrealizedbyMarinetti, crudeandbrutalelementsof reality").7
And
revolution.Untilthe end of the nineteenth whoseparole in liberta,or "wordsin free- he advocateda free, expressiveorthography
of typography, dom,"reflecteda reactionto bothformand -freely remodelling
wordsto evokeapprocentury,thephysicalgeneration
effectedbyletterpress,
hadremained
relatively contentin Symbolist
priatesensations.
poetry.
staticfor450 years.However,
thelastdecades
Oneof Marinetti's
In his "Wireless
basicreductionistic
FuandWordsin
Imagination
of thecenturysawa shiftfromtypesetting
done turisttenets-the deemotionalization
ofhuman Freedom,"
he mentioned
also"thetypographdonebymachine.Inthe experienceandits relegationto a continuum icallypictorial
ofthepage,"8
which
byhandto typesetting
possibilities
UnitedStates,Mergenthaler
inventedtheLino- of sensations-underlaythe techniqueshe
succinctlydescribesthe effectof parole in
a Futurist
typemachine(1884-86), whichset lines of proposedto usein achieving
literary libertaas realizedin print.Itwasthisaspectof
intype, and in GreatBritain,TolbertLanston expression.Marinettidescribedthese tech- Futuristliteraturewhichmostprofoundly
inventedthe Monotypecaster
Priorto
fluencedsubsequentvisual/verbal
communi(1889), which niquesin severalissuesof Lacerba.4
set characters
was these,he declaredin theTechnicalManifesto cations.In usingthe phrase"typographically
singly.TheMonotypecaster
the quintessenceof the principlesthat the that "nounswouldbe scatteredat random, pictorialpossibilities,"
Marinetti
didnotmean
Futurists
but rathera
worshiped-technology,
speed,effi- infinitiveswith theirgreaterelasticitywould literalpictorialrepresentation,
In"After dynamic,
of themateciency,andnoise-and, as such,wasusedas replacethepedanticoldindicative."5
composition
typographic
a metaphorin Futuristwritings.In Balla's FreeVerse-Wordsin Freedom,"he further rial.Although
he counseledagainstrepresenrevolution:"The tationalanddecorative
effects("Onemust...
performanceMacchinatipografia (1914), describedhis typographic
for example,the actionof the printingpress typographic
revolution
wasinitiated
bymeand avoidanypictorialpreoccupation,
takingno
was pantomimed
by actorsmovingsynchro- directedespeciallyagainsttheso-calledtypo- satisfactionin a playof lines or in curious
of thepage.... Weusein an typographicdisproportions"),9the tavole
nously;thesetconsistedoflargelettersspelling graphicharmony
al averagepagethreeor fourdifferentcolorsof parolibere,or "freewordtableaux,"
"tipografia."2
Papini,in his "Dichiarazione
originally
tipografo"of 1 May1914, a paeanto the inkandalsotwentydiversefonts:forexample, found in L'Italiafuturista, used type and
technicianof theprintedword,declaimed,"I italicfor a seriesof similarandrapidsensa- picturesin a figurativestyle reminiscentof
love the Monotype... with its complicated tions,boldfaceforviolentonomatopoeia,
etc. Mallarme.Sucheffectsareverymuchin evibeast."3Butdespite Withthis typographic
revolution
anda multi- dencein Marinetti's
ownwork,including
"Saint
precisionof a mechanical
its profoundeffecton theavailability
andcost coloredvarietyof fonts,I amableto augment UniqueTortured
andSimulbySaintsVelocity
of printedmatteratthebeginning
of thetwen- the expressiveforceof words."6It is perhaps taneity,"10
"ConBOCCIONI
a dossocasina,"
tiethcentury,it was,ironically,
to typicalof Marinetti's
thatthere andthemilitary
ballooninZangTumbTumb.
superfluous
braggadocio
Marinetti's
are no examplesof Futurist
A proofreader's
particular
purposes.
poetryprintedin
copyof La Conquetedes
Theformalrootsof Marinetti's
three
or
four
colors
or
with
typographic
twentyfonts. etoiles, in whichMarinetti
specifiedsize and
doctrinesaretraceableto Stephane
"multicolored
Mallarme, Nevertheless,
varietyof fonts" typefacealterations,
providesevidenceof his
whose Un Coup de des of 1897 has been admirably
denotesa qualitytypographers
as- understanding
ofprinting
Soffici,
procedures.12
of moder typog- cribeto differenttypestyles:
characterised
as thebeginning
theyusetheword in his memoirs,describedhis closeworking
Winter1981

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349

LA

BALZA

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'Verginitia"
Fig. IJannelli'shand-written
(1915)functionsas bothpoemandpicture.

a sorpresa"
'Alfabeto
(1916)
Fig. 2 Cangiullo's
usesletterforms
tocreate
images.
representational

relationshipwithVallecchi,Lacerba'sprint"Dichiarazione
er,13andPapini'sconciliatory
inLacerbareinforces
thisimplied
al tipografo"
rapport.
Itis noteworthy
innovations
thatMarinetti's
did not makeuse of the advancesof modern
Themostsuccessfulparole
printing
technology.
in liberta employedobsolescentwood and
realizable
only
foundrytypesin arrangements
by multiplehandsetpressings;theyrequired
the use of outdatedequipment-unusualfurnitureand mouldsto hold the typein place.
The composingtime for such experiments
musthavebeenphenomenal,
asdifferent
sorts
in differentsizeswereintermingled
to evoke
theeffectsdesired.Thereadermayexperience
the concise,meteoricefficiencyof Marinetti's
settings,buthis printerneverdid.
Thefirstexampleofparole in libertawas
to the Technical
publishedas a supplement
ManifestoofFuturistLiteraturein 1912and
was entitled"Battleof Weight+ Smell."In
thispoemMarinetti
usedmathematical
notation
to evoketheatmosphere
of a battlefield.
Zang
TumbTumb,alsowrittenin 1912,wascited
to
Nl-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
by Marinettifor his use of onomatopoeia
the
content.
folcomplement
During1913-14,
"AfterFreeVerse-Words
lowingMarinetti's
in Freedom,"
Lacerbaregularly
elements
havedoubleconnotations.
"Canzonetta"
printedparole Fig. 3 In Cangiullo's
(1917),typographic
in liberta, includingexamplesby Boccioni, brackets
arepictorial
andpun thesubjectofthesong.
Carr,Jannelli,Marinetti,
Soffici,and
Cangiullo,
to createrepresentational and Mechanical
others.'4Thisactivitywas suspendedon 15 thelettersarranged
Splendorandthe Numerical
illustra- Sensibility"(1914): "Thewordsin freedom,
WarI.
August1914withItaly'sentryintoWorld
images.Thisis alsotrueof Cangiullo's
a sorpresa"of 1916 (Fig.
in this continuouseffortto expresswiththe
thereafter,
LaBalza,basedin Ragusa, tionsin-"Alfabeto
Shortly
continuedto developtheprototype
createdin 2), citedas lateas 1939-in theMarch-May greatestforceandprofundity,
transnaturally
of 12May1915 issue of Campografico-as "a significant form themselvesinto self-illustrations,by
Lacerba.Jannelli's
"Verginita"
desireto evokeanother means of free, expressiveorthography
and
(Fig. 1) is a stunningandwhimsicalexample exampleof Cangiullo's
of calligraphic(cacographic)
wordsin free- sensibility
form."16
Theseworks typography,
froma graphic
the synoptictablesof lyricvalues
dom. It reads:"Thesea / rosy opening+
in most and designedanalogies."17
thedecorative
levelachieved
transcend
Theseworksinazure/ to buy/ on thesand/ twoeggs/ one parole in libertato embodygreatermeaning. troduceda revolutionary
elementintoliterature
littlechocolate/ one boxof matches/to make Marinetti
referredto them,andto themilitary -mood producedby meansof the medium,
a trip throughthe piazza/ violets/ on your balloonthat he himselfhad typographically thetypeitself.
Weencounterfurtherexamplesof thispheJannelli'sworkis pictorial,with designedforZangTumbTumb,in "Geometric
dirtyface."15
350

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It wastheDada,Constructivist,
De
innovative.
Stijl,andBauhausartistswho carriedon the
Allwereindebtedto Marigraphicrevolution.
nettiforhis shockinginsistenceon theculture
of masstechnologyandfor the graphicconthetenetsof
ceptshe developedto emphasize
his philosophy:
of punctuation,
re-evaluation
asymmetry,dynamiccompositionof visual
elements,and the typographically
pictorial
possibilitiesof the page.It was throughhis
willingnessto challengegraphicconventions
inparolein libertaandtavoleparolibere
that
moderngraphicconceptsfirsttookshape.
David Cundyis a graphicdesignerand
a candidatefora M.F.A.
degreeat Yale
UniversitySchoolofArt.Hehas worked
in
directlywithexamplesof typography
theMarinettiArchiveat BeineckeLibrary,
YaleUniversity.
Notes
1 Precise
unknown.
dateandplaceofpublication
See
FuturistArt
and
Marianne
elementsis
4
Venna's
the
Lucio
Martin,
Theory
(1917)
typographic
composedsolelyfrom
of City"
"Synthesis
Fig.
Clarendon
(Oxford:
thepoetryis visualratherthanliteral.
Press,1965),p. 128.
2 SeeMichael
Futurist
(New
Kirby,
Performance
York:
E.P.Dutton,
inparolein
Atavola were,no one outshoneMarinetti
nomenonin 1917inL'Italiafuturista.
1971),pp.61-63, 74,93,95.
altipografo,"
PoliticalAssembly" 3 Giovanni
Papini,"Dichiarazione
depictsa sing- liberta.His"Tumultuous
paroliberacalled"Canzonetta"
Lacerba(Florence),
vol.ii (1914),p. 135.I
er and his companionstandingon a wharf (Fig. 5) andthewell-known
"Letter
fromthe
owea debtof gratitude
W.Easton
to Elizabeth
remainthe richestexamplesof the
(Fig. 3).'8 Thewords of the musician'ssong, Front"20
for
her
in
fromthe
assistance
translations
formed
or "Blondie")
swirlabove genre."Tumultuous
Political
"Bionda"("Blond"
Assembly,"
Italianthroughout
thisarticle.I alsowishto
his head.Intheforeground
eachwave(onda) entirelyof graphicelements-witha skeleton
thanktheBeinecke
RareBookandManuscript
is represented
bya printer'sbracket;theboat textof letters,numbers,anddates-has been
of YaleUniversity
foraccessto early
in thewateris a large,blockB,which,coupled describedas a "magnificent
Library
exampleof the
Futurist
here.
of
discussed
withthe article'I'and'onda'repeatthesong representative
publications
power graphicsymbols."21
4 Seebelownotes6 through
title. ThusBiondais wittilypunnedwiththe "LetterfromtheFront"employedmanyof the
9.
in his"WireTisdall
andAngelo
Futurism
5 Caroline
Bozzolla,
bracket/waves(her curvesperhaps).Lucio elementsmentioned
byMarinetti
andWordsin Freedom"to
Venna's"Synthesis
of theCity"(Fig. 4), pub- less Imagination
(NewYork:OxfordUniversity
Press,1978),
lisheda fewmonthslaterin thesameperiodi- evokethechaosof war:machineguns,explop.94.
il versolibero-leparole
in
6
F.T.Marinetti,
the
and
sions,
cal, elegantlyevokesthe Florentine
"Dopo
open.
camping
cityscape
in liberta,"
Afterthewar,Futurism
becametheprovince
Lacerba,vol.I (1913),p. 253.
(includingthe archesof the PonteVecchio)
e sensiof anothergeneration.As a result,parole in
astratte
devices.19
7 F.T.Marinetti,
"Onomatopee
throughtypographic
ii
bilitA
vol.
of hisdisciples libertaandtavoleparoliberewereno longer
asthecreations
Asimpressive
numerica,"
Lacerba, (1914),p.99.
Winter1981
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351

.".q

'':-E.

Fig. 5 Marinetti's
PoliticalAssembly"
(1919).Thecomplexity
and textureofthisworkevokecomparisons
definitive"Tumultuous
withcollage.
8 F.T.Marinetti,
senzafilie le
"L'immaginazione
inlibertA,"
vol.I(1913),
Lacerba,
parole
p. 123.
"Losplendore
e
9 F.T.Marinetti,
geometrico
meccanico
nelleparolein liberta,"
Lacerba,
vol.i (1913),p. 83.
10F.T.Marinetti,
"Santa
Unicatorturata
daSanta
e daSantaSimultaneita,"
Velocita
Noi(Rome),
23April1924,pp.14- 15.
11 F.T.Marinetti,
"Con
BOCCIONI
a dosso
casina,"
Archive,
1932).Marinetti
Futurismo(Rome,
RareBookandManuscript
Beinecke
Library,
YaleUniversity.
12F.T.Marinetti,
La Conquete
des etoiles,unboundproofsheet,Marinetti
Beinecke
Archive,
YaleUniversity.
Library,
Autoritratto
d'artista
Italiano
13Ardegno
Soffici,
nelquadrodelsuotempo(Florence:
Vallecchi
Editore,
1968),vol.7,pp.785- 86.SeeRonny
Cohen,"ItalianFuturistTypography,"
The
PrintCollector's
vol.viii(1978),
Newsletter,
p. 167.
14Boccioni,"Scarpetta
da societa+ Orina,"
Lacerba, 15 November1913;Cangiullo,
1January
"Fumatori,"
"19001914;Carra,
1913,"1 February
1914;Jannelli,"Manovra
di nottemodera,"15April1914;Marinetti,
"Dune,"15February
1914;Soffici,"Albuffet
dellastazione,"
1August
1914.
La Balza,
15Guglielmo
Jannelli,"Verginita,"
352

12 May1915;Marinetti
Beinecke
LiArchive,
brary,YaleUniversity.
16F.T. Marinetti,
"Rivoluzione
futuristadelle
in
e
di poesia
tavole
sinottiche
liberta
parole
pubblicitaria,"Campografico (Milan),
March-May1939.
"Losplendore
e
17F.T. Marinetti,
geometrico
meccanico
nelleparolein liberta,"
Lacerba,
vol.ii (1914),p. 83;herequotedfromUmbro
(NewYork:
ed.,Futurist
Apollonio,
Manifestos
VikingPress,1973),p. 157.
18Francesco
L'Italia
"Canzonetta,"
Cangiullo,
18March
1917;Marinetti
futurista(Florence),
YaleUniversity.
Archive,BeineckeLibrary,
alsousedmusical
toachieve
notation
Cangiullo
in intensity
modulations
andtempo,as sugin "Canzonetta
gestedbyMarinetti,
pirotechnica,"La Balza, April1915;andin "Allee
Noi, 1924.
JuliusCaesar,"
dicitta,"L'Italiafutur19LucioVenna,"Sintesi
Beinecke
ista,18June1917;Marinetti
Archive,
YaleUniversity.
Library,
20F.T.Marinetti,
"Assemblea
tumultuosa"
politica
and"Ogniseracoricata
nelsuolettorileggeva
la letteradel suo artigliere
al fronte,"both
fromLesmotsen libertefuturiste(Milan),
in Campografico,
1919;both reproduced
1939.
March-May
21 Campografico,March-May1939.

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