Futurism Event in Los Angeles

Futurism + 100

A celebration of the 100th anniversary of the publication of the Futurist Manifesto with an evening of Futurist music, poetry, short films and the premiere of a site-specific video installation. Otis College of Art and Design, 9045 Lincoln Blvd., L.A. 8 p.m. Free. (310) 527-6847.

CELEBRATING THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FUTURISTS
Otis College of Art and Design Event Brings Together Writers, Artists, Musicians, Followers and Fans of the Avant-Garde Movement Begun in 1909

Public Is Invited to “Futurism + 100” with Music, Poetry Readings, Short Films and Art,Including Premiere of Video Installation, “1080 Punch-ups”

WHO: Otis College of Art and Design invites all Futurists (and the public at-large) to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Futurist Manifesto, written by Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. The declaration was published on the front page of Le Figaro on
February 20, 1909, and launched a cultural phenomenon. Marinetti’s legacy continues to exercise a vital and often controversial influence on contemporary visual and literary worlds.

WHAT:
To commemorate the founding of Futurism, the Graduate Writing Program at Otis, chaired by Paul Vangelisti, hosts a real “serata futurista” (“futurist evening”). The many fields of experimentation dear to the Futurist sensibility will be duly represented: poetry, music, visual arts, cinema and food. Vangelisti recommends that attendees wear Futurist attire (i.e., red, black or white).

Poetry: Readings of “parolibere” poems (“words in freedom”) and a passage from Marinetti’s Come si Seducono le Donne (How to Seduce Women), for the first time in English translation.

Music: A Futurist DJ Set with the music and voices of the movement’s principal figures, remixed and revisited by DJ ZANG TUMB TUMB.

Visual Arts: Reproductions of the key articles of the Futurist Manifesto on display, as well as a number of reproductions of “parolibere” poems. Also, premiering, MARINETTI + COMPUTER, an interactive video installation by Alessandro Marianantoni and Gianluca Rizzo, projected on the “punch-card” façade of the Otis main building (constructed in 1962 for IBM’s West Coast headquarters), which
translates Futurist aesthetics into the language of new media.

Cinema: Projection of Amor Pedestre, a rare Futurist short that tells a love story by focusing solely on the character’s feet.

Food: “Polibibita” Negroni, the one and only true Futurist cocktail.

WHEN: Friday, February 20, 2009 from 8pm until 10pm

WHERE: Otis College of Art and Design, just north of LAX, at 9045 Lincoln Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90045. Map and directions available at www.otis.edu

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