 | Curator and creator: Technical consultant: Prefaces: Antiga Edizioni ISBN 88-88997-29-6 |
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Futurism was the first cultural and artistic movement of the twentieth century to examine the emerging phenomenon of Sport, in which it recognised the very essence of all that was modern. The Futurists were the first to create a new aesthetic for disciplines such as football, tennis, cycling, motorcycling and skiing. However their research was not limited to the visual arts, covering the applied arts of fashion, design and graphics which they considered to be equally important. Using a rich body of iconographic sources, the Futurism & Sport Design project aims to understand the pioneering and radical contribution that this mainly Italian movement brought to creativity in sport design. At the same time, it highlights its continuing influence today.
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Futurism and Sport
Founded in 1909, Futurism was the first art movement in modern times to deal with the theme of sport in a natural, organic way. Futurist works gave glimpses of a future that would increasingly be dominated by the energy of the new generations. To find a similar level of attention dedicated to the world of sport, one has to go back to the ancient Greeks; the Futurists introduced a completely new aesthetic which could be used to represent the new sporting activities of the era and which in turn represented a definite step forward from the classical world. Between 1910 and 1940 the movement found radical innovation in the expressive language used to describe sports such as football, cycling, motor sport, motorcycling, skiing, athletics and swimming. From painting to sculpture, from graphic design to fashion, Futurism paves the way for a momentous work of renewal. For the first time in the history of art, themes such as speed, movement and human dynamism are examined.
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| 1a Achille Funi Cover for Lussuria-Velocità (detail) Milano, Modernissima, 1921 | 1b R.A.M. (Ruggero Alfredo Michahelles) Fermata Plongeon (goalkeeper), 1929-32 Bronze, work lost Michahelles Archive, Florence |
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2a Vinicio Paladini Movimento e spazio, 1928 photomontage on cardboard, cm 30,6 x 23,8 Private collection | 2b Mario Dal Monte Bozzetto di vestito da bagno da donna, 1928 Gouache on cardboard, cm 22 x 16 Private collection, Imola |
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Chapter 2
Comparisons between Futurist fashion and contemporary sports fashion
Futurism radically renewed the way the world looked at fashion and Futurist clothing was created based on principles such as comfort, simplicity, hygiene, practicability and agility. One of the possible uses for Futurist clothing was for sport; indeed, from the mind of first Balla and then Thayaht a one-piece garment, the “Tuta” was created and is now a basic sportswear item (in Italian the term “Tuta” still applies to overalls, track suits etc). Balla also created compositive clothing solutions which were very advanced for the time based on his research into illustrating speed and motion in painting via the use of force-lines. Depero immersed his garments in abstract shapes suggesting speed while Prampolini used painting with great dynamic freedom on his clothing. Here the influence of the Russian avant-garde was no less important. The graphic applications based on speed used by the Futurists in clothing and in other forms of art are often reflected in contemporary sport fashion design.
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3a Thayaht (Ernesto Michahelles) Modello di tuta, 1919-1920 Pen and watercolor on paper, cm 60,5 x 40 Galleria del Costume di Palazzo Pitti, Florence | 3b Ellesse, ski overall, advertising campaign, 1969 |
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4a Fortunato Depero Bozzetto del costume-maschera per 'Motolampade', 1929 Black pencil and ink on paper, cm 56 x 32 MART, Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto © by SIAE, 2006 | 4b Robe di Kappa, ski overall, 2002 c. 4c Atomic, ski shoe, 2004 |
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Chapter 3
Aerodynamic shapes, polimaterics, style, inventions
Boccioni’s investigative research with sculpture leaned towards representing a “style of movement” as well as the new dynamic concepts: shapes are shown to suggest motion, ideally merging with their backgrounds and are enriched with new plastic rhythms. From similar concepts, Thayaht invented “traiettiva” which was the deformation of objects in motion via the fusion of trajectory and perspective. The shapes created by Boccioni, Thayaht and other Futurist sculptors can be seen as a precursor to the aerodynamic elements used today in sport design: sports cars, motor cycles, helmets and ski boots. The Futurists were also responsible for the avant-garde restyling of motorcycle fairing. This chapter presents a panorama of Thayaht and his relationship with sport as a stylist and inventor of new machines, such as the land yacht. At the end of the chapter there are some examples of Futurist inventions that are still used today for sun visors and waist packs.
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5a Thayaht (Ernesto Michahelles) Tuffo, 1932 Plaster model, metal (pedestal) altezza 289 cm, base 13 x 142 x 142 cm CLM Seeber collection, Rome | 5b Garmont, skiboot, mod. Diamond, 1980 |
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6a Mino Delle Site Studio della "tuta" termica femminile, con giberna portatutto (belt-bag), 1932 | 6b Eastpak, belt-bag, 2002 c. 6c Invicta, belt-bags, 1995 |
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Chapter 4
Comparing Futurist styles with graphics and contemporary sports design
Contemporary sports graphics can be seen to reflect Futurist pictorial insight based on force-lines. In this section there is a juxtaposition of posters used to advertise companies or sports events with paintings by Balla, Depero, Munari and Gambini. The product graphics for skis, ski boots, in-line skates, windsurfing boards and sails are shown next to paintings and motifs for textiles by Balla and Depero. The designs of the Futurists, whose research was based on the suggestion of speed in motion, are shown in the context of the work of contemporary sports designers. Textiles from the Italian and Russian Futurists are compared to similar solutions from sports textile design. The symbols designed by Balla for himself and for the movement are shown next to contemporary sports company logos. At the end of the chapter the focus is on the similarities between Futurist scenography and today’s design for sports company trade show stands and photographic sets.
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7a Giacomo Balla Numeri innamorati (detail), 1920 Oil on canvas, cm 77 x 55 MART, Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto © by SIAE, 2006 | 7b Dynafit, skiboot, 1991-92 Fondazione Museo dello Scarpone e della Calzatura Sportiva, Montebelluna |
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| 8a Giacomo Balla Linee-forza del pugno di Boccioni (logo of the futurist movement), 1915 Gouache on paper, cm 58,5 x 73,5 Private collection © by SIAE, 2006 | 8b Cagiva logo 8c Tecnica logo |
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9a Fedele Azari Volo librato (Prospettive in volo), detail, 1926 Oil on canvas, cm 120 x 80,5 Private collection | 9b Lotto logo |
Marco Mancin (1975) is a graphic designer and computer graphics teacher, specialising in sport design. He works with the Fondazione Museo della Calzatura Sportiva and the Sportsystem Fashion Observatory. He is the webmaster for the Internet Portal for the Distretti Italiani, the association of Italian industrial and economic districts. He lives and works in the Sportsystem district of Montebelluna.
Valentina Durante (1975) is co-ordinator and chief trends and consumption analyst for the Sportsystem Fashion Observatory. She is the author of Sportsystem, tra fashion e performance, and curator of the annual Rapporto Osem on the Montebelluna Sportsystem district. She is also a free-lance contributor for a variety of publications in the sport-street-fashion sector. She is the local ADI (Association of Industrial Design) observer and teaches design and marketing in fashion.
 | Sportsystem tra fashion e performance (only in Italian), by Valentina Durante, with 48 colour plates, Zanetti Editore 2004. |
