Over a century after its inception, analysing futurism as an art movement cannot help but be impacted by hindsight of the evolution and implications of the ideas it explored. It can be seen as myopic in how it idolised technological progress in its philosophy, swept up in the excitement of rapid change in the late 19th and early 20th century, without clear foresight for what these changes would entail for society. This perspective is also informed by the radical political ideologies that futurism encouraged, which are commonly seen as destructive by 21st century standards. Of course, this present day perspective is rooted in the original societal inspirations of futurism losing their novelty and excitement, and originating more destructive advancements in technology that have led to more pessimistic outlooks on this progress.
Despite the ideologies of Futurism aging rather poorly, the innovations in artistic formal qualities that it inspired in many disciplines are undeniable, and have proven to be applicable to many artistic ideologies. Presented by the Estorick collection, “Breaking Lines – Futurism and the Origins of Experimental poetry” explores the formal innovations of Italian futurist poetry and how it layed the experimental foundations for concrete poetry in post-war Britain.
Split across the two ground floor galleries, the first room of the show highlights how the Italian futurists, led by their founder, Filippo Tomasso Marinetti, broke poetic convention in their experimental use of form, structure, and sonic connotations of words. Futurism was fueled by a determination to reflect the atmosphere of industrialisation and technological advancement in the early 20th century, which produced new forms, sounds, and complex mechanical systems ripe with artistic inspiration. Concrete poetry of post-war Britain fills the second room of the show, with a particular focus on the work of Dom Sylvester Houédard (1924 – 1992). Houédard, or “dsh” as he referred to himself as, was an eccentric figure who frequented avant-garde circles in Britain after working as a military intelligence officer during the second world war and later becoming a Benedictine Monk at Prinknash Abbey in Gloucestershire. He was also a Theologian, reflected in the works in this exhibit, described in the press release as “exploring themes of transcendence, contemplation and the relationship between the material and the divine”. The display of concrete poetry also includes notable works from other British artists, lent from various collections.
The first room is densely populated, filled with full publications and various excerpts of mostly Italian experimental poetry, framed on the walls and in horizontal glass cases, with monitors showing a flip through video of any full publications on display. The walls are decorated with intermittent floor to ceiling wallpaper strips of enlarged sections of the various works on display, which are hung to overlap these sections in some places, playing with the scale of the works and intensifying the visual landscape of the room. At first I found this to be overwhelming, but after looking at all the works, the curational choice seemed to match the loud, somewhat bombastic style inherent in the futurist works. Without being able to read any Italian, aside from the obvious cognates, the masterful composition of many of the poems became more apparent, directing attention to the qualities that actually influenced the concrete poetry present in the second room of the show. On the far wall, six pages of the futurist movement’s official newspaper, “L’Italia Futurista” display for me is the most beautifully composed poetry in the room. While looking over the largely abstracted compositions of foreign words, letters, and some small illustrations, I found that the natural instinct to read from left to right made an interesting path for the eye, different from the one that may be taken if each letter was replaced with a shape. Futurist literature manifestos from Filippo Tomasso Marinetti, a large print of Carlo Belloli’s famous poem “Guerra/Terra” (War/Land), and various other framed pages from futurist publications make up the rest of the room. The time and consideration put into the design of the original publications reflects the value and esteem such luxury items held at the time, apparent when viewed in a modern context, where an abundance of information sources has reduced quality. I found the inclusion of Blast Magazine II, from 1914, to be a great curational selection. Founded by Wyndham Lewis and Ezra Pound, it offers a contrasting analytical perspective on the era’s innovation in comparison to the Italian futurists, reflecting the alienation and uncertainty of new technologies and inspiring the “vorticism” movement that originated in London. The magazine includes some stunning black and white prints in the geometric, machine like vorticist style, and nicely compliments the mostly text based works in the room.
A large printed photo of Dom Sylvester Houédard greets you on the nearest wall of the second room. He is holding one of his more experimental pieces, “Frog Pond Plop”, a translated haiku by Matsuo Bashō, printed onto a fortune teller, and included in one of the display cases. The photo seems to reflect the softness of the works to come, and the contemplative, spiritual persona of their maker. The most space is given to Houédard’s “Typestracts”, a term coined by poet Edwin Morgan, combining the words ‘Typewriter’ and ‘Abstract’. The abstraction Houédard is able to achieve with a tool as purpose-built as a typewriter is impressive, and must have required planning with serious consideration and compromise for the limitations of the device. As a result, the prints reflect a more modern, complex relationship between man and machine, in comparison to the nascent, ideological observations of technology present in the Futurist works of the first room. While hard to do justice with words, the prints exude subtlety and consideration, combining sparse words with literal or subjective visualisations of their meanings in abstract forms. The uniformity and inherent structure of the typeface used in the compositions plays on and subverts one’s expectancy of direct information from writing and prefabricated symbols, an effect also present in the rest of the concrete poetry in the room, though in a less aggressive way. While not as attention grabbing as the work of Houédard, works from various collections of concrete poetry including the Estorick’s own complete the room. John Furnival’s “Europa and Her Bull”, Paula Claire’s “Animated”, and several works from Ian Hamilton Finlay were some personal favourites. In essence, the second room felt like a much more playful and relaxed continuation of the poetic techniques pioneered by the futurists, with compositions and language much less emphatic in their look.
As well as awarding prominence to the esoteric discipline of concrete poetry, this exhibition reveals a perspective on futurist literature that might usually be overshadowed by its radical ideologies as well as futurism’s more famous contributions to the visual arts. This perspective is undoubtedly a result of expert research and analysis, and a testament to the depth of the Estorick collection and its unique dedication to Italian Art and its impact. With an extensive amount of works not mentioned in this review, and expertly written wall texts that offer great historical insight, the show has potential for many takeaways and subjective points of interest. The curation effectively invites visitors to traverse the two galleries freely and come to their own conclusions, avoiding overbearing narratives, and making for a pleasant, contemplative viewing experience.
Review by Chris Wieland
Featured Image: Carlo-Carra_Atmospheric-Swirls-A-Burning-Shell-1914_Courtesy-Estorick-Collection
Breaking Lines – Futurism and the Origins of Experimental Poetry/Dom Sylvester Houédard and ConcretePoetry in Post-war Britain. 15 January – 11May 2025 Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art. Visit Estorick Collection for details
