Futurism…like it or loathe it, now there was a brand for you! Marinetti, Boccioni, Carra, Balla, Palasechi! When Filippo Tommaso Marinetti published his Futurist Manifesto in the French daily newspaper Le Figaro 20th February 1909, what was he letting loose? Sure, a passionate loathing of everything old, particularly political and artistic tradition and conventions. But an art movement that glorified war?! What were they playing at? OK, it all led to castor oil cocktails for the caring comrades in the end, but there were some interesting ideas about speed, youth and energy there. But then, February 20th is an interesting day in the calendar. Tony Wilson, creator of Manchester’s Factory Records (a brand of brands) and a futurist if ever there was one, was born on this day. Then again, so was Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, not so much a futurist as a look-backwards-over-your-shoulder-ist. It’s a day for tough people and big ideas. Back in 1977, Alan Hull, singer with rock group Lindisfarne, who also shared this birthday, told me that, where he came from, punks were people who put safety pins through other people’s noses. Which is why I’ve always been scared of visiting Newcastle. February 20th is a day full of people who talk tough and do things first. So, happy birthday, too, to Sidney Poitier, Jimmy Greaves and Mike Leigh.
Mark Griffiths www.idealconsulting.co.uk
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"February 20th is a day full of people who talk tough and do things first". I've never been one to agree with a statement like that. Its too deterministic.
ReplyDeleteAfter all, would someone born a day earlier be consigned to 'say nothing and come second'. I don't believe so?
We are in the realms of belief here. But I believe that we can influence how we turn out. Many of us don't like what we're thrown and want to escape our P***factory.
I believe that June 3rd or May 12th are just as auspicious.
Communication is a very chancey thing. The signal you send out is rarely the signal decoded. Silence is one response. Continued playfulness is another. Rather than press a belief, I have a different purpose in this blogging series – and that’s to explore something very important to the world of branding in which I operate – perception. My job is to influence how people think and feel, to persuade them to act differently. Standing out in the margins, as I do, however, I need transport to central, whatever means comes to hand. At the heart of my approach is the distraction principle – using imagination to move people sideways or anywhichways out of their normal way of thinking. I distract, on the one hand, by resorting to my huge anthology of eclecticism. On the other, I’m happy to take serendipity, day by day. Whatever I find I use. Yesterday, I was reading about the origins of Japanese haiku poetry, which captures those brilliant moments of universal significance among the daily and the ordinary. But I’m only using this as an opportunity to wish David Sylvian a happy 51st birthday. There’s something Zen-like about people who are associated with February 23rd…
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