Vasily Kamensky and F. T. Marinetti: Italian Words-in-Freedom and Russian Typographic Visual Poetry
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Eugene Ostashevsky
Abstract
Tango with Cows, by the Russian Cubofuturist Vasily Kamensky, is an early example of avant-garde typographic visual poetry. Each of the book’s ‘ferroconcrete’ poems arranges words and word fragments by mixing different typefaces on the surface of a single pentagonal page. Published less than a year after Marinetti issued a call for a “typographic revolution” in his Distruzione della sintassi - Immaginazione senza fili - Parole in libertà (Destruction of Syntax - Untrammelled Imagination - Words-in-Freedom, 1913), Tango with Cows strikes the reader as quite Italianate in comparison with other innovative Russian Futurist books. Was Kamensky aware of Marinetti’s manifestos? Might the form and even the existence of the ‘ferroconcrete’ poems be related to Marinetti’s visit to Russia, which took place shortly before the publication of Tango with Cows? Was the Russian poet responding to Marinetti’s first book-length experiment with Words-in-Freedom, Zang Tumb Tuuum: Adrianopoli ottobre 1912, issued in early 1914? To solve these questions, this essay compares Kamensky’s ferroconcrete poems to related publications of Russian Cubofuturist and Italian Futurist typographic visual poetry. It also establishes a comparative chronology of publications and their dates of composition, and investigates which Italian Futurist manifestos might have been available to Kamensky. Finally, I consider whether Kamensky’s poems may have responded to the concept of simultaneity formulated in Gli espositori al pubblico (The Exhibitors to the Public, 1912), a Futurist manifesto on painting. Since I have been working with the typographic historian and artist Daniel Mellis on an English-language recreation of Tango with Cows (which is forthcoming in different fine-press and trade editions with commentary on typography, poetics and cultural context), this essay is illustrated by examples of Kamensky’s typographic visual poetry in both the original and in English.
Abstract
Tango with Cows, by the Russian Cubofuturist Vasily Kamensky, is an early example of avant-garde typographic visual poetry. Each of the book’s ‘ferroconcrete’ poems arranges words and word fragments by mixing different typefaces on the surface of a single pentagonal page. Published less than a year after Marinetti issued a call for a “typographic revolution” in his Distruzione della sintassi - Immaginazione senza fili - Parole in libertà (Destruction of Syntax - Untrammelled Imagination - Words-in-Freedom, 1913), Tango with Cows strikes the reader as quite Italianate in comparison with other innovative Russian Futurist books. Was Kamensky aware of Marinetti’s manifestos? Might the form and even the existence of the ‘ferroconcrete’ poems be related to Marinetti’s visit to Russia, which took place shortly before the publication of Tango with Cows? Was the Russian poet responding to Marinetti’s first book-length experiment with Words-in-Freedom, Zang Tumb Tuuum: Adrianopoli ottobre 1912, issued in early 1914? To solve these questions, this essay compares Kamensky’s ferroconcrete poems to related publications of Russian Cubofuturist and Italian Futurist typographic visual poetry. It also establishes a comparative chronology of publications and their dates of composition, and investigates which Italian Futurist manifestos might have been available to Kamensky. Finally, I consider whether Kamensky’s poems may have responded to the concept of simultaneity formulated in Gli espositori al pubblico (The Exhibitors to the Public, 1912), a Futurist manifesto on painting. Since I have been working with the typographic historian and artist Daniel Mellis on an English-language recreation of Tango with Cows (which is forthcoming in different fine-press and trade editions with commentary on typography, poetics and cultural context), this essay is illustrated by examples of Kamensky’s typographic visual poetry in both the original and in English.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Table of Contents V
- Editorial IX
-
Section 1: Futurism Studies
- The Futurist Manifestos of Early 1910: Dates and Editions Reconsidered 1
- From Bologna to the World: The International Futurism of Athos Casarini 51
- Parisian Rivalries before the War: Futurism and Cubism as Enemy Brothers (1912–1914) 93
- Futurism in Occupied Fiume, 1919–1920 123
- Italian Futurism between Fascism, Modernism and Nazi Germany 163
- Vasily Kamensky and F. T. Marinetti: Italian Words-in-Freedom and Russian Typographic Visual Poetry 189
- The Scream of the Boor: Bruno Jasieński and the Politics of Art in Polish Futurism 225
- A Rêve onanistique: Futurism and Portuguese National Identity in Raul Leal’s Correspondence with Filippo Tommaso Marinetti 247
- Futurism in Goa: Early Interactions with Marinetti in Portugal’s Colony in India 279
- Out of the Archive: Marinetti in Cambridge (1914) 307
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Section 2: Obituaries and Anniversaries
- Mariana Aguirre (1977–2022): Obituary 327
- Akademiia Zaumi 339
- The 100th Anniversary of Zenit (1921–2021): Futurism and the Yugoslav Avant-garde 349
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Section 3: Critical Responses to Exhibitions, Conferences and Publications
- Cesare Andreoni (1903–1961), a Futurist in Milan: A Study Day Promoted by the Archivio Cesare Andreoni in Milan 359
- Aroldo Bonzagni and His (almost) Futurist Epoch 367
- Italian Futurism in the Gianni Mattioli Collection Presented in Russia (2021) 375
- Depero New Depero: Rovereto Presents the Artist and His Reception after 1960 385
- The Futurist Novel before and After the First World War 399
- Paolo Buzzi and the Futurist chiaro di luna 405
- Gian Pietro Lucini in Context: Futurism and the Pursuit of a New ‘Avant-garde’ 413
- Fortunato Depero’s ‘Bolted Book’ 419
- Visualizing the Invisible: Photography and Futurist Art 427
- The Permanent Revolution of Fascist Art 433
- Space, Geography and Centre-Periphery Relations: New Perspectives on Ultraism and Estridentism, 1918–1927 439
- Ilya Zdanevich (Iliazd): Ambassador of Georgian Futurism 445
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Section 4: Bibliography
- A Bibliography of Publications on Futurism, 2019–2022 465
-
Section 5: Back Matter
- List of Illustrations and Provenance Descriptions 493
- Notes on Contributors 501
- Name Index 509
- Subject Index 541
- Geographical Index 571
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Table of Contents V
- Editorial IX
-
Section 1: Futurism Studies
- The Futurist Manifestos of Early 1910: Dates and Editions Reconsidered 1
- From Bologna to the World: The International Futurism of Athos Casarini 51
- Parisian Rivalries before the War: Futurism and Cubism as Enemy Brothers (1912–1914) 93
- Futurism in Occupied Fiume, 1919–1920 123
- Italian Futurism between Fascism, Modernism and Nazi Germany 163
- Vasily Kamensky and F. T. Marinetti: Italian Words-in-Freedom and Russian Typographic Visual Poetry 189
- The Scream of the Boor: Bruno Jasieński and the Politics of Art in Polish Futurism 225
- A Rêve onanistique: Futurism and Portuguese National Identity in Raul Leal’s Correspondence with Filippo Tommaso Marinetti 247
- Futurism in Goa: Early Interactions with Marinetti in Portugal’s Colony in India 279
- Out of the Archive: Marinetti in Cambridge (1914) 307
-
Section 2: Obituaries and Anniversaries
- Mariana Aguirre (1977–2022): Obituary 327
- Akademiia Zaumi 339
- The 100th Anniversary of Zenit (1921–2021): Futurism and the Yugoslav Avant-garde 349
-
Section 3: Critical Responses to Exhibitions, Conferences and Publications
- Cesare Andreoni (1903–1961), a Futurist in Milan: A Study Day Promoted by the Archivio Cesare Andreoni in Milan 359
- Aroldo Bonzagni and His (almost) Futurist Epoch 367
- Italian Futurism in the Gianni Mattioli Collection Presented in Russia (2021) 375
- Depero New Depero: Rovereto Presents the Artist and His Reception after 1960 385
- The Futurist Novel before and After the First World War 399
- Paolo Buzzi and the Futurist chiaro di luna 405
- Gian Pietro Lucini in Context: Futurism and the Pursuit of a New ‘Avant-garde’ 413
- Fortunato Depero’s ‘Bolted Book’ 419
- Visualizing the Invisible: Photography and Futurist Art 427
- The Permanent Revolution of Fascist Art 433
- Space, Geography and Centre-Periphery Relations: New Perspectives on Ultraism and Estridentism, 1918–1927 439
- Ilya Zdanevich (Iliazd): Ambassador of Georgian Futurism 445
-
Section 4: Bibliography
- A Bibliography of Publications on Futurism, 2019–2022 465
-
Section 5: Back Matter
- List of Illustrations and Provenance Descriptions 493
- Notes on Contributors 501
- Name Index 509
- Subject Index 541
- Geographical Index 571
