Futurism’s musical eccentric: The instruments of Luigi Russolo and sound as art

This paper will discuss the sound art works of luigi russolo, who was a member of the Italian Futurist art movement. The Futurists were a group of artists, some of whom like Marinetti, a founding member of the group, is associated with the Fascist movement in Italy. (Antliff, 2000) Though it seems difficult to understand how artists could associate themselves with totalitarian political movements, in the early decades of the 20th century it was not uncommon for artists to take extreme political positions, whether on the right or left of the political perspective. The Futurists were against democracy, thinking that art would be one of the ways to achieve liberation of the Italian people from rational politics. (Antliff, 2000) russolo's famous manifesto is called The art of Noises (L'arte dei Rumori), and following Futurist doctrine, emphasized the positive aspect of modernity, in particular mechanical and technological aspects that linked man in a symbiotic utopian relationship with industrial age machines.