Marinetti expressed a passionate loathing of everything old, especially political and artistic tradition. "We want no part of it, the past", he wrote, "we the young and strong "Futurists!"" The Futurists admired speed, technology, youth and violence, the car, the airplane and the industrial city, all that represented the technological triumph of humanity over nature, and they were passionate nationalists. They repudiated the cult of the past and all imitation, praised originality, "however daring, however violent", bore proudly "the smear of madness", dismissed art critics as useless, rebelled against harmony and good taste, swept away all the themes and subjects of all previous art, and gloried in science.
Publishing manifestos was a feature of Futurism, and the Futurists (usually led or prompted by Marinetti) wrote them on many topics, including painting, architecture, religion, clothing and cooking.
The founding manifesto did not contain a positive artistic programme. The Futurists attempted to create it in their subsequent "Technical Manifesto of Futurist Painting". This committed them to a "universal dynamism", which was to be directly represented in painting.
In practice, much of their work was influenced by Cubism, and indeed their images "were" more dynamic than those of Picasso and Braque. The phrase 'plastic dynamism' has been used to describe their early work.
One of the greatest patrons and financier of Futurism in Milan was the business magnante Antonio Bernocchi, he was also the creator and producer of the first example of Italian industrial design, inspired by futurism, that became known as ""Luminator Bernocchi"".
Many Italian Futurists supported Fascism in the hope of modernizing the country. Italy was divided between the industrial north and the rural, archaic South. Like the Fascists, the Futurists were Italian nationalists, radicals, admirers of violence, and were opposed to parliamentary democracy. Marinetti was one of the first members of the National Fascist Party. He soon found the Fascists were not radical enough for him, but he supported Italian Fascism until his death in 1944.
The Futurists' association with Fascism after its triumph in 1922 brought them official acceptance in Italy and the ability to carry out important work, especially in architecture. After the Second World War, many Futurist artists had difficulty in their careers because of their association with a defeated and discredited regime.
The Futurists renewed themselves again and again until Marinetti's death.
Futurism influenced many other twentieth century art movements, including Art Deco, Vorticism, Constructivism, Surrealism and Dadaism. Futurism was, like science fiction, in part overtaken by 'the future'.
Nonetheless, the ideals of futurism remain as part of modern Western culture: the emphasis on youth, speed, power and technology is expressed in much of modern cinema and culture. Ridley Scott used design ideas of Sant'Elia in "Blade Runner".
Echoes of Marinetti's thought, especially his "dreamt-of metallization of the human body", are still strongly prevalent in Japanese culture, and surface in manga/anime and the works of artists such as Shinya Tsukamoto, director of the ""Tetsuo"" (lit. "Ironman") films.
Futurism influenced the literary genre of cyberpunk. Artists who came to prominence in the first flush of the internet, such as Stelarc and Mariko Mori, produced work influenced by Futurist ideas. A revival of sorts of the Futurist movement began in 1988 with the creation of the Neo-Futurist style of theatre in Chicago, which uses Futurism's focus on speed and brevity to create a new form of immediate theatre. There are active Neo-Futurist troupes in Chicago, New York, and Montreal.
Nine Lessons and Carols
The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols is a form of church service used at Christmas in the Anglican Church. There are nine lessons (readings) and between each reading there is a carol sung, either by the choir on its own or by the whole congregation. The story is told from the beginning of the Bible in which Adam disobeys God, to the coming of the baby Jesus.
The form of the service was started by Edward White Benson who was Bishop of Truro in Cornwall, for use on Christmas Eve (24 December) 1880. The service is now used by other churches all over the world, not just in Anglican churches, but also in some Roman Catholic and Lutheran churches. In the UK, the service has become the standard form for schools' Christmas carol services.
The best-known Nine Lessons and Carols service is the one held in King's College, Cambridge every Christmas. The choir carols are sung by the famous Choir. This service has been broadcast by the BBC for more than half a century.
The first Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at King's College, Cambridge, was held on Christmas Eve in 1918. The music at the first service was directed by Arthur Henry Mann, who was the organist from 1876 to 1929. The choir had 16 trebles which was the number that Henry VI said there must be when he founded the college. Until 1927 the men in the choir were choral scholars and lay clerks. Today, 14 undergraduates from the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, sing the men's parts.
The service was first broadcast by the British Broadcasting Corporation in 1928 and, except for 1930, has been broadcast every year since, even throughout World War II in spite of the stained glass having been removed from the Chapel and the lack of heating. The service is slightly different today: not all the readings are from the Bible. Most of the carols are sung by the choir. There are generally more than nine carols. The service starts with the famous carol "Once in Royal David's City". Verse one is always sung as an unaccompanied solo by one of the boys in the choir. The boy is not told that he is the one who has been chosen to sing the solo until just before the service begins.
Since 1982 the Director of Music has been Stephen Cleobury. Each year he commissions a composer to write a new carol for the Choir. The service ends with the carol "O Come all ye faithful". This is followed by the Organ Voluntary: "In Dulci Jubilo" (BWV 729) by Johann Sebastian Bach and then another Organ Piece (which is heard on the radio but not on television).
Bearing
The word Bearing can mean:
Babbitt metal
Babbitt metal is a metal that has very little friction. It is used for bearings. It can be made from tin, copper, antimony, or lead. Normally it is a certain mixture of these metals. It is very soft. There are harder and softer parts in it, though. This creates small holes where grease can go in when the soft parts rub away. An item with bearings could be a fidget spinner or a bicycle wheel.
Zinc aluminium
Zinc aluminium, also called ZA, are alloys of zinc and aluminium. They make good bearings. They work similar to Babbitt metal. Different amounts of aluminium can be added to make different properties. The percentage of aluminium can be known by a number. ZA8 means there is 8% aluminium.
Nickel silver
Nickel silver, sometimes called German silver, is an alloy. It normally has copper, nickel, and zinc in it. Despite the name, it does not contain any real silver. It is common in utensils. It is also used in cymbals, keys, zippers, and musical instruments. Some coins use nickel silver. It is sometimes used to trick people into thinking it is silver. A German industrial chemist named E.A. Geitner discovered nickel silver in the early 19th century.
Pope Innocent III
Pope Innocent III (; 1160 or 1161 – 16 July 1216) was an Italian priest of the Roman Catholic Church and the 177th Pope from 1198 until his death in 1216.
Lotario di Conti was born at Anagni in central Italy. His father was Count Trasimund of Segni who was a member of the Conti family.
During the short reigns of Pope Lucius III, Pope Urban III, Pope Gregory VIII, and Pope Clement III, he served in the church bureaucracy.