MetaFilter posts tagged with futurism

Art of Noises

fire&wings — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:32:46 -0800

Luigi Russolo was a futurist painter, experimental composer, and instrument builder. In his 1913 manifesto "The Art of Noises" he declaimed the death of traditional Western music and foresaw the dawning of a new music based on the grinding, screeching, moaning, crackling and buzzing of mechanical instruments. He and his assistant Ugo Piatti built the Intonarumori to bring these new sounds - "the palpitation of valves, the coming and going of pistons, the howl of mechanical saws, the jolting of a tram on its rails, the cracking of whips, the flapping of curtains and flags" - to life. Listen to them, then and now.

Life under a giant plastic bowl

daniel_charms — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:42:22 -0800

In the bright and shiny future, we all live in cities under giant domes, green and warm all the year round - a sort of Logan’s Run, but without the forced euthanasia. It almost happened in, of all places, in Winooski, an old mill town in northern Vermont. In 1979, at the height of the oil crisis, someone proposed during a meeting called by the town fathers to discuss energy needs that the town should be covered with a dome to reduce the escape of heat. The idea quickly took off. Some heralded it as 'the ultimate in Yankee ingenuity'. Not everyone was as enthusiastic, though, and Winooski's requests for federal funds were turned down. Soon, the enthusiasm faded. The legend of the dome, however, still lives on as a giant umbrella covering the town.

A Talking Head Dreams of a Perfect City

kliuless — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 09:41:37 -0800

David Byrne's Perfect City Osaka's robot-run parking lots mixed with the Minneapolis lakefront; a musician's fantasy metropolis BONUS -More Than a Tree Grows in Brooklyn Rooftop Farm [1,2] -Skyburbs: Bringing the Burbs to the City [1,2] -An Explosion of Ganjapreneurship [1,2] -The Power of the Poor [1,2] -The Currency Revolution [1,2] -The Dawn of Augmented Reality [1,2] -Where Did All the Flowers Come From? [1,2]

It's the end of the world as we ... think it might happen

desjardins — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:47:58 -0800

Choose your own apocalypse! Futurists discuss: How is America going to end?

Yesterday's Energy of Tomorrow...and more

Miko — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 10:05:33 -0800

Peak Oil, 1925. In 2000, 20% of new buildings will be solar equipped. By the late 1990s, 90% of the world's energy will be nuclear-generated. These and other erroneous projections are being collected as part of the Forecast Project on the website Inventing Green: The Lost History of Alternative Energy in America.

The Millennial Project

Joe Beese — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:17:46 -0800

The Millennial Project is a comprehensive plan for space development, beginning with the terrestrial cultivation of an environmentally sustainable civilization and Post-Industrial culture and culminating, far in the future, in the colonization of our immediate stellar neighborhood. The TMP2 project is specifically a project of the Living Universe Foundation community to continually update and revise the content of the original plan as described by Marshal T. Savage in his book The Millennial Project. Marshall Savage has been called "a worthy candidate for a modern Hari Seldon".

whither or wither?

kliuless — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 09:41:13 -0800

What is the future of capitalism?
a) 3.0
b) Canada* ([1],[2])
c) 'smart growth' (viz.)
d) none of the above** *cf. Spain ([1],[2]) **cf. trust networks

Future Imperfect

empath — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 21:01:43 -0800

Future Imperfect. David Friedman gives a wonderfully discursive talk on future technology and the law at Google.

What is a human being? An acorn that is unafraid to destroy itself in growing into a tree.

ageispolis — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 15:27:12 -0800

H+ Magazine is an online quarterly publication focusing on trans humanism, a product of the futurist movement that supports science and technology to enhance the mental and physical capacities of the human being. Sometimes referred to as posthumanism, Francis Fukuyama calls it one of the world's most dangerous ideas. If you feel like you're lagging behind, George Dvorsky is kind enough to inform us ~>H's of the must-know transhumanist terms for today's intelligentsia. Previ ously, are you afraid of death?

Fashion in the 10th dimension

cashman — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 11:58:36 -0800

German TV show Paris Aktuell's mesmerizing space-age futuristic fashion in 1970, in 1969 (2), and in 1968. [MLYT] Forget a flying car, I want a body length thermal outfit with a waist-high zipper.

science and futurism overlap

nickyskye — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 21:43:40 -0800

One Pill Makes You Autistic -- And One Pill Changes You Back. It might also lead to recreational autism, where people who want to take a break from having messy emotions about other people decide to unplug and enter a state where human relationships are no more important than inanimate objects. Other future oriented science and tech stories about innovations with the potential to impact culture and politics by the same author,Annalee Newitz, mentioned previously. Radio-Controlled, Implantable Sperm Valve is New Vasectomy The First Child to Have Three Genetic Parents A "Morning Before" Pill to Prevent HIV Infection And thrown in for fun, Scariest Special Effect Ever Created (NSFW)

Artifacts from the Future

Rhaomi — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:42:42 -0800

For years, Wired magazine has tapped a bevy of designers and artists in the tech field to craft detailed visions of futuristic objects for a monthly showcase at the close of each issue. Now, after hinting as much in the July edition, it is clear that that the tradition of FOUND has been brought to an end. What better way to say goodbye to this whimsical feature than by taking a look back at the full archived run of the series? (Note: Although FOUND has been a regular feature of Wired for many years, the magazine's website only began including it in its online archives in November 2004. Previous editions of FOUND are not indexed on wired.com, and are virtually impossible to find elsewhere online.) MM.YY - Artifact Title (Future year) 11.04 - Election Day (2012) 12.04 - Barf Bag (2047) 01.05 - House Call (near future) 02.05 - Taste Tester (2009) 03.05 - Insurance Form (2069) 04.05 - Horoscope (2056) 05.05 - Bumper Sticker (2012) 06.05 - Antivirus (2022) 07.05 - Nightstand (2017) 08.05 - Crossword (2019) [solution] 09.05 - Space Elevator (2032) 10.05 - Sharper Image (2012) 11.05 - Diaper (2024) 12.05 - Christmas Morning (2016) 01.06 - Mood Ring (2009) 02.06 - Love Tester (2015) 03.06 - MTA Route Map (2067) 04.06 - Tax Day (2021) 05.06 - Operation (2027) 06.06 - Bookstore (2021) [side view] 07.06 - Contact Lens (2020) 08.06 - Diet Cola (2019) 09.06 - Report Card (2018) 10.06 - Bluetooth (2019) 11.06 - Organ Farming (2015) 12.06 - Christmas Shopping (2017) 01.07 - Crayons (2013) 02.07 - Speeding Ticket (2054) 03.07 - Medicine Cabinet (2013) 04.07 - Bug Spray (ca. 2050) 05.07 - Reunion (2052) 06.07 - Fido Fusion (2016) 07.07 - Comic Book (2021) 08.07 - Fruit Stand (ca. 2020) 09.07 - Birthday (2079) 10.07 - Halloween (2015) 11.07 - Waste Management (ca. 2025) 12.07 - Responsibeer (2012) 01.08 - Windshield (2013) 02.08 - Tatoo (near future) 03.08 - Home Shopping (ca. 2016) 04.08 - Risk (2027) 05.08 - Smithsonian (2096) 06.08 - Wine Spectrometer (ca. 2020) 07.08 - "The Final Found" (2018) Top FOUND contributors include: Chris Baker - senior editor, Wired Laura Moorehead - contributing editor, Wired Sean Hamilton Alexander - designer Joshua Davis - web designer Patrick Di Justo - contributing editor, Wired

The Uncanny Island

artifarce — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 19:22:12 -0800

"I began to realize that "robots"-- in all their various forms-- can really be seen as a symbol of a larger relationship between people and technology." In 1988, Frederick Schodt wrote about the Japanese fascination and use of robots in his book Inside the Robot Kingdom, curious by the disparities between American and Japanese manufacturing processes . In 1988, the American public wasn't ready for the book, or for robots. Today, Japan still has embraced robotic automation in a way that arguably no other country has. For more similar topics, Mangobot is a column that reports on Asian futurism.

City of the Future, Taiwan 1960s

socalsamba — Tue, 27 May 2008 10:56:44 -0800

City of the Future, Taiwan 1960s

Read about 2063 as imagined in 1963

jonson — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 21:24:09 -0800

In 1963, General Dynamics Astronautics asked politicians, scientists, and military commanders to speculate on the potential state of the world in 2063, recording all these speculations in a book, and sealing it in a time capsule that was lost during the demolition of the General Dynamics Astronautics building. Thankfully, the entirety of the book is available as a download thanks to the fine folks at Paleo-Future. Found Via.

The Pointless Museum

Item — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 18:40:28 -0800

The Pointless Museum [via mefi projects] "The Pointless Museum is a growing collection of books, cards, games and other half-forgotten things. It includes 70s futurism books like The Usborne Book of the Future and The World of Tomorrow - School, work and play; a number of sets of Top Trumps and other card games, and programming books for home computers that hardly anyone ever owned."

Sterling's World 2008

digaman — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 08:39:25 -0800

Bruce Sterling's State of the World: an interactive discussion on the Well with the noted sci-fi author and futurist. "The political and economic landscape in 2008 is full of spinning, tottering Chinese plates poised on tall pool-cues." [An MP3 of his State of the World 2006 from SXSW was previously linked here.]

MOMA's Collection of Illustrated Books

Kattullus — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 21:03:21 -0800

MOMA has around 400 images from its collection of illustrated books available online. It's heavy on the works of the early 20th Century European avant-garde, especially the Russian Futurists, though it extends into the present day. Here are a few of the images that I liked: Aleksei Krucenykh and Kirill Zdanevich, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Olga Rozanova, Ekaterina Turova, El Lissitzky, Max Ernst, Raymond Pettibon, Vasily Kandinsky and Natalia Goncharova. As a bonus here's El Lissitzky's lovely children's book, About 2 Squares.

Two interviews for 'Blade Runner' fans

Rajamadan — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 13:59:30 -0800

This link goes to an discussion with 'Future Noir' author Paul Sammon... then this one goes to a Q&A with 'BR' director Ridley Scott, talking about the upcoming re-release.

The writings of Owen Hatherley

Kattullus — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 21:38:22 -0800

Owen Hatherley, has three blogs where he expounds on culture and architecture from an English Leftist perspective, sit down man, you're a bloody tragedy, The Measures Taken (which has longer essays than the previous blog) and the group film blog kino fist. To give you an idea of the range of subjects he covers, here's a sampling of his blogposts: Towards a Communist Couture? Sartorial Socialism from Huey P Newton to Honecker, Zuckendes Fleischer (on pre-WWII American cartoons), Industrial Island Machine - Vorticism and the absence of an English Avant-Garde, Hurrah for the Black Box Recorder (on songwriter Luke Haines and The Daily Mail), The Children’s Book as a Revolutionary Object (with a bunch of pictures from Soviet avant-garde children's books), Architectural Drawings of the 1960s, Art is a branch of Mathematics (Taylorism and Russian SF classic We), Brechtian Productivism in an age of Mechanical Stagnation and Notes towards an attempted refutation of the 'Associational Fallacy' (on architecture). All of the blogs are heavily adorned with pretty pictures, some not safe for work. He has been mentioned before and one of his essays was the subject of a previous fpp.

Back to the Futurismo.

progosk — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 05:45:16 -0800

Piggybacking the opening of the Rome Film Fest, a group of self-styled cultural "terrorists" struck Rome yesterday, dyeing the Trevi fountain r e d. In an elaborate manifesto, the previously unknown group Azione Futurista is claiming to represent "precarious workers, the unemployed, the elderly, the ill, the student body and workers alike", and have announced that "we are coming with our vermilion to colour the grey of your everyday" - "a blob of colour will bury you all." Although it seems they used innocuous red aniline dye, most authorities are, predictably, up in arms.

Have You?

Heywood Mogroot — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 04:32:02 -0800

Old enough to remember those AT&T "You Will" ads from 1993? via Barry Ritholz's The Big Picture blog.

The Italian Futurist Book

Meatbomb — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 03:16:43 -0800

The book is an account of the battle of Adrianopolis (Turkey) in 1912 in which the author volunteered as a Futurist-soldier.
Futurism (1909-1944) was perhaps the first movement in the history of art to be engineered and managed like a business.

But what about the flying cars?

straight — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 13:38:11 -0800

Why science fiction is hard. Inspired by reports of a creative new, Rube-Goldberg spamming technique in World of Warcraft, MetaFilter's own Charlie Stross imagines trying to explain gold farming to someone from 1977. (Previously: 1, 2, 3)

The next thirty years of war

Happy Dave — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 14:10:13 -0800

The British Ministry of Defence has been thinking about the future , and 2037 looks like it'll be a doozy. Others have been thinking about it too, and they believe they'll be mainly hot, sweaty, dirty and confusing. Of course, if you're the Canadian military, you get a science fiction author to write your future for you.