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Re: [microsound] Re: futurists + fascistas



hola list et al,


Actually, the futurists _were_ fascists; that's not contention but fact.
Marinetti was an avid supporter of Mussolini, in word and deed, and the
futurists embraced World War I.

    See, for example,

    Richard J. Golsan, Ed. _Fascism, Aesthetics, and  Culture._ Hanover: UP
    of New England, 1992.


However, I think it's fair to qualify Mussolini's fascism from Hitler's Nazi
party and its fascism. The level of street violence practiced by _any_
political party at the time is unbelievable, whether fascist, imperialist,
communist, anarchist, etc. There is a context to be carefully observed here
because it is twisted with our own.

Also, thinking here of another post, futurism is not fascism nor is it
conservatism nor neoconservatism. These are all quite different ideologies
with different agendas and goals. Some have melded more easily into others.
Don't forget the Republicans and the Democrats traded places in the US
mid-century. The left/right topology is anything but stable, and when
analyzing and comparing to earlier moments in history, this has to be kept
in mind -- sorry for coming off all lecture-like here, I guess I'm just
trying to point out two things today: 1. the fact of the neocons; 2. how
this is creating a new kind of authoritarianism that risks a new kind of
fascism. Futurism on the one hand and religious apocalypticism on the other
are also defining a current aesthetic-political spectrum that merges in the
mix of the digital.

So that's why this post is relevant.

If you're interested, I wrote a piece called "The Reverb Engine" on the
contemporary relation of technology to futurism. It features some words on
Kim Cascone, Tim Hecker, Russolo, Guy Debord, etc. It was written for Sonic
Acts X in Amsterdam ..


    van Veen, tobias c.  ³The Reverb Engine.² Ed. Arie Altena. In _Unsorted:
    An A to Z for Sonic Acts X_, Paradiso: Amsterdam, 2004. pp. 104-110.


Come to think of it, I'm still looking for a place to publish the actual
talk I gave at the conference, which expands upon these themes.

cheers,

tV



> some contend that the futurists were fascists.
>
>
> On Thursday, November 4, 2004, at 02:09 PM, Richard Zvonar wrote:
>
>> At 4:01 PM -0500 11/4/04, graham miller wrote:
>>> i have a brilliant musician friend (jazz guitar) who is a diehard
>>> objectivist (as in ayn rand). he considers himself a libertarian but
>>> his
>>> politics are pretty republican...
>>
>> I think guitarists are exempt.
>> --
>>
>> ______________________________________________________________
>> Richard Zvonar, PhD
>> (818) 788-2202
>> http://www.zvonar.com
>> http://RZCybernetics.com
>>
>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
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>>
>>
> CommTom
> Communications of Tomorrow
> "it's only a day away"
>
> unique electronic music for the adventurous ear.
>
> http://www.commtom.com
>



tobias c. van Veen -----------++++
http://www.quadrantcrossing.org --
http://www.thisistheonlyart.com --
McGill Communication + Philosophy
--- New School Philosophy --------
ICQ: 18766209 | AIM: thesaibot +++


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