March 23rd, 2024

Happy Saturday! Here we are, issue #20 💥it’s still a small newsletter but honestly I’ve been super happy with the growth since November and readership is strong each week. I once heard that most podcasts never make it to episode #20, and the podcasts that do are the ones who start to gain momentum. Obviously that’s a different medium, but maybe the same principle applies to newsletters? Regardless, I’m so glad ya’ll turn up each week for the longer form content and I have no plans to stop.

This week’s artist is a fascinating figure, both in art and in the early days of music theory. We live in an amazing time where one can find clips of his early music on YouTube all the way from 1924 🤯 

Artist Spotlight - Luigi Russolo (1885- 1947)

Career

Luigi Russolo, born in Portogruaro, Italy in 1885 showed an early interest in art. He moved to Milan in his youth, where he became involved in the artistic scene, initially focusing on painting. By 1910, he had joined the Futurist movement, inspired by its leader, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, and the movement's passionate embrace of modernity, technology, and the rejection of traditional artistic conventions. As a Futurist, Russolo contributed both paintings and theoretical writings, reflecting the movement's interdisciplinary nature.

In 1913, he wrote his groundbreaking manifesto "The Art of Noises," proposing a new approach to music that included the incorporation of industrial and urban sounds. This work positioned him as a pioneer in the field of experimental music. His burgeoning exploration of sound was interrupted by World War I. He volunteered for the Italian Army in 1915, serving in an artillery regiment. His experiences during the war, including the exposure to the cacophony of modern warfare, undoubtedly deepened his interest in the potential of noise as a component of music. Russolo's military service also reflected the Futurist movement's complex relationship with war, which they initially celebrated as a form of societal purification and a catalyst for technological progress.

Despite the interruption, Russolo continued to develop his ideas about sound. Alongside his brother Antonio, he created the "Intonarumori," or noise intoners, machines designed to produce a wide array of noises, which they used in performances after the war. These performances were often met with mixed reactions, ranging from intrigue to outright hostility, reflecting the radical nature of their work. Despite the controversial reception, Russolo's ideas about noise and sound had a profound impact on future generations of musicians and artists, laying the groundwork for electronic music, experimental music, and sound art.

The post-war period was a time of reevaluation for Russolo, as it was for many Futurists. The realities of the war had tempered the movement's earlier enthusiasm for violence and conflict. He continued his work in music and sound, though his post-war output never quite reached the same level of recognition as his earlier contributions. He experimented with traditional compositions and even explored the potential of electronic music, anticipating future developments in the field.

In his later years, Russolo's public artistic activities diminished. He spent his final years in Cerro di Laveno, Italy, where he died on February 4, 1947. Despite withdrawing from the public eye, his influence on the development of avant-garde music and sound art continued to grow after his death.

Contributions to the Art World

Russolo’s manifesto "The Art of Noises" was his most significant contribution to the art world at large. He argued for the inclusion of everyday noises in music composition, expanding the musical palette beyond traditional instruments to reflect the sounds of the industrial age.

The Intonarumori he and his brother built were experimental musical instruments designed to create a wide range of sounds including roars, whistles, whispers, and crashes, among others. These instruments were central to performing the compositions outlined in "The Art of Noises" and represented a radical break from musical tradition.

As a member of the Futurist movement, Russolo's work embodied the movement's fascination with modernity, technology, and speed. His efforts to sonically represent the chaos and energy of the industrial world were in line with Futurism's goal to rupture with the past and celebrate the dynamism of contemporary life.

Style

Russolo's paintings embody the core Futurist fascination with speed, movement, and the machine age. His artworks often depict modern industrial landscapes, automobiles, and airplanes, capturing the energy and velocity of the early 20th-century technological advancements. Following the Futurist manifesto's call for art to represent simultaneous and dynamic action, his paintings often convey a sense of motion through blurred lines, overlapping forms, and the use of vibrant colors that seem to vibrate off the canvas.

Inspired by Divisionism, a technique related to Pointillism that involves the separation of colors into individual dots or patches which interact optically, Russolo applied this method to create a luminous, flickering effect in his paintings. This approach allowed him to experiment with light and color, giving his works an intense energy and vitality.

He also experimented with perspectives and forms to convey movement and transformation. He often distorted shapes and used angular, fragmented compositions to mimic the chaos and flux of urban environments and the machinery that populated them.

A recurring theme in Russolo's work is the celebration of the modern landscape—cities alive with electric lights, factories billowing smoke, and the cacophony of urban sounds. His paintings are testimonies to the transformative power of technology and industrialization. He was fascinated by the relationship between humans and machines. His paintings frequently explore the integration of the human figure within mechanized environments, reflecting on the merging of organic and artificial life in the modern era.

Influences and Lessons

The Futurist movement, founded by Marinetti, profoundly influenced Russolo. Futurism's enthusiasm for modernity, technology, and speed resonated with him, shaping his artistic and musical output. The movement's rejection of the past and its embrace of the industrial and mechanical world provided a philosophical foundation for Russolo's experiments, both in painting and sound.

He was also part of a broader avant-garde community that sought to break down traditional artistic boundaries and explore new forms of expression. His interactions with other avant-garde artists, including those in the Cubist and Expressionist movements, likely influenced his approach to form and composition, encouraging a departure from realism towards more abstract representations.

Russolo teaches us the value of embracing new technologies and ideas in our creative endeavors. His willingness to incorporate industrial noises into music and to experiment with novel instruments underscores the importance of innovation in art. His work exemplifies the power of challenging artistic conventions and exploring uncharted territories. Russolo's transition from traditional painting to creating noise music illustrates how artists can redefine the boundaries of their medium.

Style Representation

Collectors Corner - Ren and Dehiscence

Ren - Silica People

My second piece is, in the words of the artist, delightfully absurd. And free to mint + gas (which is dirt cheap). I’m really looking forward to seeing what else hits this collection. It’s an open edition so grab one soon.

DEHISCENCE - Neon Nonsense

Final Thoughts

I’m looking forward to trying out Dough this weekend. I’ve needed a good excuse to get back into animations and this looks like the perfect tool to get the train rolling. Stable Video Diffusion, Pika, Runway etc just haven’t been able to grab my attention for any length of time, so I’m hoping this will open up the creativity I’ve been missing for video. I’ll be sharing on X if I manage to create anything interesting.

Speaking of sharing, I just signed up for Warpcast this week. If you’re on the platform already, let’s follow each other.

And if you haven’t signed up yet, here’s a link to check it out. We both get 50 warps, which is some kind of app currency that I don’t understand yet haha.

As always, if you enjoyed this edition I would really appreciate if you shared it. Just hit the share button below. And if you’re not following me on X yet, I’d love to follow you back.

On that note, I’ll leave you with a quote and a wish that you get to experience something amazing this weekend:

Enjoy your weekend, friend!

P.S. If you have feedback I’d love to hear it! A reply to this email goes directly to me.

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