Manicure. Faire les ongles à l'Italie. Circa 1915. A fantastic parody of an advertising poster. , Marinetti, Filippo Tommaso
Marinetti, Filippo Tommaso
Manicure. Faire les ongles à l'Italie.
circa 1915.
A fantastic parody of an advertising poster.
A collage heralding the Dada movement.
Black ink and collages on paper. Text in French. 31 x 21 cm. Numbered “40” in blue pencil in the top right-hand corner by F.T. Marinetti.
The revolution as manicure: against dry skin and old nails. Under the light-hearted guise of advice on the art of hand care, Marinetti defends the revolutionary values of his 1909 Manifesto of Futurism: the radical rejection of the past. In fact, as he explains the “Manicure” technique for “Doing Italy's nails”, Marinetti associates the ideas and rules of the past with old skins: he wants to “kill your backward-looking skins”. The metaphor echoes the request made by some of the Futurists for women to paint their nails in the colours of the Italian flag. There may also be a connection to the poem “Manucure” published by Mario de Sá-Carneiro in May 1915, with a paroliberist layout and a mention of Marinetti's name.
Marinetti obviously intends to “Do Italy's nails” through war and revolution. For instance, “attente d’une armée qui va bientôt entrer en action” (expecting an army that will soon go into action) is an allusion to the interventionist ideas of the Futurists, who promote Italy's entry into the war. The guillotine and the Balkan War are also mentioned: the phrase “Hennissement de tous les 1500 chevaux massssssacrés éCCCRAbouillés en TAS (sanginolence) suivant les ordres de Choucri Pacha avant de capituler" (Neighing of all the 1500 masssssssacred horses CCCRUshed in a HEAP (bloodshed) by order of Choucri Pasha before surrendering”) alludes to the siege of Andrianople, which Marinetti would develop in his book Zang Tumb Tuuum.
An advertising poster with collages. The carefully designed layout spoofs a certain type of advertisement, with the text arranged over three columns, slogans placed diagonally (“Ongles brillants agressifs” (Shiny aggressive nails), “Tuer ses peaux passéïstes” (Kill your backward-looking skins)), or round inserts to highlight certain passages (“Bol d’eau chaude + savon + éponge” (Bowl of hot water + soap + sponge)). It is worth noting that the art of advertising held no secrets for Marinetti, who published his manifesto in Le Figaro (over three columns, as is also the case here), nor for other Futurists such as Depero - think of his future advertisements for Campari.
This work foreshadows the layout of Proverbe, the Dadaist publication with Picabia's “Bracelet de la vie” (1920).
The writing follows the rules laid down by Marinetti in his Manifeste technique de la littérature futuriste (Technical Manifesto of Futurist Literature; 1912), aiming for a total destruction of syntax, with the use of neologisms and the improper use of capitals...
Full linear translation of the text, no formatting:
“Letting go of the steering wheel and getting your nails done
MANICURE. DOING Italy's NAILS
Letting go of the steering wheel and doing your nails
KILL YOUR BACKWARD-LOOKING SKINS
HEAD UNDER THE RASOR BLADE
Shiny aggressive nails
Engagement of my
LEFT HAND / Abandon / on a white cushion between slender fingers shiny nails vibrant breasts of the manicurist her attentive mouth library surgery light file spilling over the frayed skins my heavy fingers too lively becoming alien at the bottom of an ocean of cream abyss of feminine warmth 3 small pots WHITE VASELINE to destroy the skins
cleaning the nail under the nail vaseline oxigenated steel nail file cardboard nail file faster lightness zeal ART pruritus sensuality pink powder of the arabian houses on the blue sea pumice stone pink polisher
TWO THEORIES AGAINST THE SKINS
cut them: they grow back
push them back: A MINISTER'S ANXIETY IN TIMES OF STRIKES
SMALL shaded LAMP feminine intensity PINK
GUILLOTINE BLADE IMMINENT DANGER
HAIRDRESSER'S HAND
RASOR BLADE
HAIRDRESSER'S HAND
RASOR BLADE
correcting proofs / what a drag live fires in the Boulogne lighthouse / useless harvests / 3 stupid hairs on a pretty woman's chin
it’s done water spray summer of my face its solidity under the electric massage drrrrrrrrr drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrunkenness of my skin open pores hot cold hot
NEIGHING of all the 1500 masssssssacred horses CCCRUshed in a HEAP (bloodshed) by order of Choucri Pasha before surrendering
RIGHT HAND / BEATITUDE
from my fingers yes there are 5 of them I recognise them separated from each other kids' battle in the warm Mediterranean oily velvet of the contacts silver plic-ploc WAITING FOR AN ARMY that will soon go into action
come let us be brave the operation is not serious eve of an exam moping under the rain-window of a pretty girl in her undershirt her pink and white greeting romanticism wet with boredom
outside the henhouse door at 15 to hear Wagner (one of 463 fingers tied by the officers) ORDER CLEANLINESS dreamily caressing the hands of a woman who compares her fingers with mine at the dinner table fingers must be appetizing
HOT WATER...
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Marinetti, Filippo Tommaso
Manicure. Faire les ongles à l'Italie.
circa 1915.
A fantastic parody of an advertising poster.
A collage heralding the Dada movement.
Black ink and collages on paper. Text in French. 31 x 21 cm. Numbered “40” in blue pencil in the top right-hand corner by F.T. Marinetti.
The revolution as manicure: against dry skin and old nails. Under the light-hearted guise of advice on the art of hand care, Marinetti defends the revolutionary values of his 1909 Manifesto of Futurism: the radical rejection of the past. In fact, as he explains the “Manicure” technique for “Doing Italy's nails”, Marinetti associates the ideas and rules of the past with old skins: he wants to “kill your backward-looking skins”. The metaphor echoes the request made by some of the Futurists for women to paint their nails in the colours of the Italian flag. There may also be a connection to the poem “Manucure” published by Mario de Sá-Carneiro in May 1915, with a paroliberist layout and a mention of Marinetti's name.
Marinetti obviously intends to “Do Italy's nails” through war and revolution. For instance, “attente d’une armée qui va bientôt entrer en action” (expecting an army that will soon go into action) is an allusion to the interventionist ideas of the Futurists, who promote Italy's entry into the war. The guillotine and the Balkan War are also mentioned: the phrase “Hennissement de tous les 1500 chevaux massssssacrés éCCCRAbouillés en TAS (sanginolence) suivant les ordres de Choucri Pacha avant de capituler" (Neighing of all the 1500 masssssssacred horses CCCRUshed in a HEAP (bloodshed) by order of Choucri Pasha before surrendering”) alludes to the siege of Andrianople, which Marinetti would develop in his book Zang Tumb Tuuum.
An advertising poster with collages. The carefully designed layout spoofs a certain type of advertisement, with the text arranged over three columns, slogans placed diagonally (“Ongles brillants agressifs” (Shiny aggressive nails), “Tuer ses peaux passéïstes” (Kill your backward-looking skins)), or round inserts to highlight certain passages (“Bol d’eau chaude + savon + éponge” (Bowl of hot water + soap + sponge)). It is worth noting that the art of advertising held no secrets for Marinetti, who published his manifesto in Le Figaro (over three columns, as is also the case here), nor for other Futurists such as Depero - think of his future advertisements for Campari.
This work foreshadows the layout of Proverbe, the Dadaist publication with Picabia's “Bracelet de la vie” (1920).
The writing follows the rules laid down by Marinetti in his Manifeste technique de la littérature futuriste (Technical Manifesto of Futurist Literature; 1912), aiming for a total destruction of syntax, with the use of neologisms and the improper use of capitals...
Full linear translation of the text, no formatting:
“Letting go of the steering wheel and getting your nails done
MANICURE. DOING Italy's NAILS
Letting go of the steering wheel and doing your nails
KILL YOUR BACKWARD-LOOKING SKINS
HEAD UNDER THE RASOR BLADE
Shiny aggressive nails
Engagement of my
LEFT HAND / Abandon / on a white cushion between slender fingers shiny nails vibrant breasts of the manicurist her attentive mouth library surgery light file spilling over the frayed skins my heavy fingers too lively becoming alien at the bottom of an ocean of cream abyss of feminine warmth 3 small pots WHITE VASELINE to destroy the skins
cleaning the nail under the nail vaseline oxigenated steel nail file cardboard nail file faster lightness zeal ART pruritus sensuality pink powder of the arabian houses on the blue sea pumice stone pink polisher
TWO THEORIES AGAINST THE SKINS
cut them: they grow back
push them back: A MINISTER'S ANXIETY IN TIMES OF STRIKES
SMALL shaded LAMP feminine intensity PINK
GUILLOTINE BLADE IMMINENT DANGER
HAIRDRESSER'S HAND
RASOR BLADE
HAIRDRESSER'S HAND
RASOR BLADE
correcting proofs / what a drag live fires in the Boulogne lighthouse / useless harvests / 3 stupid hairs on a pretty woman's chin
it’s done water spray summer of my face its solidity under the electric massage drrrrrrrrr drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrunkenness of my skin open pores hot cold hot
NEIGHING of all the 1500 masssssssacred horses CCCRUshed in a HEAP (bloodshed) by order of Choucri Pasha before surrendering
RIGHT HAND / BEATITUDE
from my fingers yes there are 5 of them I recognise them separated from each other kids' battle in the warm Mediterranean oily velvet of the contacts silver plic-ploc WAITING FOR AN ARMY that will soon go into action
come let us be brave the operation is not serious eve of an exam moping under the rain-window of a pretty girl in her undershirt her pink and white greeting romanticism wet with boredom
outside the henhouse door at 15 to hear Wagner (one of 463 fingers tied by the officers) ORDER CLEANLINESS dreamily caressing the hands of a woman who compares her fingers with mine at the dinner table fingers must be appetizing
HOT WATER...
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