Richard Humphreys

Seeking adventure, Humphreys tried to join the French Foreign Legion, but was turned away because he was too young and couldn't get his parents' permission. When he got a little older the Navy seemed a good alternative and the submarine force, as an elite, even more attractive. This is a skeptical and clear-eyed look at the process of becoming a submariner and what it was like to live and work in a submarine.

After some rather harrowing training, he discovered that leaving port in a submarine during rough seas (the best time to remain hidden), leads to rather extreme sea-sickness and given the fetid air the boat soon filled with everyone's previous meal. Life on board was boring, claustrophobic, all-consuming, and nerve-wracking, all at the same time. Amusingly, one of the most frequent questions asked by visitors to the boat, was "Where are the windows? How do you know where you are going?"

Circadian rhythms get completely discombobulated with watches on a 4-on, 8-off cycle, no natural light (high intensity lights are on all the time), no sunrise or sunset and never knowing whether it's morning or night except by the clock. That leads to instability and being thrown together with people you may not like, for months at a time, becomes another source of tension.

Humphreys finishes the book with a meditation on MAD. As he says earlier on, one misstep and its WW III that no one wins. If you have any interest at all in what it's like to be an ordinary seaman on a nuclear sub, then this is the book for you. Expect some claustrophobia.… (mehr)

The art movement known as Futurism was born in Italy in 1909 with the publication of F. T. Marinetti’s “The Founding and Manifesto of Futurism,” outlining the philosophy of this revolutionary movement comprising an international band of artists, sculptors and poets - Umberto Boccioni, Carlo Carrà, Luigi Russolo, Giacomo Balla, Gino Severini, among others. These Futurists loved speed, noise, machines and danger and also proclaimed a muscular political agenda linked to Fascism.

Richard Humphrey’s lively, richly illustrated book covers the origins, development and pervasive influence of this group that thrived on boldly setting down their Manifestos on such topics as art, sculpture, architecture, poetry, music, lust and war. Perhaps an effective way for me to provide a glimpse into what readers will encounter with this spirited band of visionaries is to share the eleven concise statements of their staunch political/cultural/artistic position at the heart of F. T. Marinetti’s Manifesto along with my comments. Here they are:

1. We intend to sing the love of danger, the habit of energy and fearlessness. ----------- Hardly the words of a group of sensitive, refined Romantic or Decadent aesthetes who make a hasty retreat from the world in order to live and create in the rarefied atmosphere and safety of isolation. No, no, no – right out on the city street, in your face, creating works of art that kick ass.


2. Courage, audacity, and revolt will be essential elements of our poetry. -------- These Futurists wanted to insert themselves into history rather than simply art history and that’s history as in the real flow of monumental events with a stomp of the jackboot – none of those reasoned, mild-mannered discussions or incremental changes so as not to upset the status quo. Just the opposite: think of black uniformed soldiers racing around in fast, sleek cars; think of a Mussolini rally with a crowd of thousands cheering in response to impassioned rhetoric, words of fire and action ; think of the Italian dictator shooting off air raid sirens just to keep the population on their toes.

3. Up to now literature has exalted a pensive immobility, ecstasy, and sleep. We intend to exalt aggressive action, a feverish insomnia, the racer’s stride, the mortal leap, the punch and the slap. ---------- The now famous myth of the writer as tough guy. Years after Marinetti’s Manifesto, the tradition has been carried forward by writers like Ernest Hemingway, Henry Miller and Charles Bukowski, tough guys who take time out from daring adventures and barroom brawls to punch and slap the keys of their typewriter.

4. We affirm that the world’s magnificence has been enriched by a new beauty: the beauty of speed. A racing car whose hood is adorned with great pipes, like serpents of explosive breath—a roaring car that seems to ride on grapeshot is more beautiful than the Victory of Samothrace. ----------- Ah, those noising, revving autos speeding along the highway. Actually, to my mind, there is an even more powerful display of gleaming silver pipes and symbol of roaring danger and speed: the modern motorcycle. With so many revving, gleaming motorcycles and lists of driver deaths, the vision of the Futurists is still very much with us.



5. We want to hymn the man at the wheel, who hurls the lance of his spirit across the Earth, along the circle of its orbit. ------- This statement of constantly driving a high speeds, defying death at every turn, shooting left and right, watching explosions all around you anticipates our culture of high speed ultra-violent video and computer games and, of course, ultra-violent movies and films. Again, the spirit of Marinetti and the Futurists are with us still.

6. The poet must spend himself with ardor, splendor, and generosity, to swell the enthusiastic fervor of the primordial elements. ---------- We all have seen and heard our modern day poets of enthusiasm, fervor and primal energy: rock stars.

7. Except in struggle, there is no more beauty. No work without an aggressive character can be a masterpiece. Poetry must be conceived as a violent attack on unknown forces, to reduce and prostrate them before man. ---------- Those Futurists proclaimed spiritual vitality by living in the present and through the aesthetics of action. Movement is everything. Even a little doggie can get in on the action. And what would the Futurists say if you asked them about art that should be created to endure over time? Answer: Vai all'inferno!



8. We stand on the last promontory of the centuries! Why should we look back, when what we want is to break down the mysterious doors of the Impossible? Time and Space died yesterday. We already live in the absolute, because we have created eternal, omnipresent speed. --- Go, Futurists, go! Viva la speed!

9. We will glorify war—the world’s only hygiene—militarism, patriotism, the destructive gesture of freedom-bringers, beautiful ideas worth dying for, and scorn for woman. ---------- Ah, the futurists are coming - duck and cover! Too bad the futurists were fascists. What would Marinetti would have to say in the aftermath of Nazi Germany and fascist Italy? Also, what did Marinetti’s wife have to say about her husband’s Manifesto?

10. We will destroy the museums, libraries, academies of every kind, will fight moralism, feminism, every opportunistic or utilitarian cowardice. ----------- Take no prisoners! And the hell with all that stuffy, refined culture! Again, for me, this brings to mind the modern mentality of action video games and action movies: the more violent, the more speed, the more multiple heavy-duty explosions to loud, heavy metal rock and chances to pull the trigger and fire, the better.


11. We will sing of great crowds excited by work, by pleasure, and by riot . . . ---------- The ultimate Futurist modern day event: the rave concert.
… (mehr)

The art movement known as Futurism was born in Italy in 1909 with the publication of F. T. Marinetti’s “The Founding and Manifesto of Futurism,” outlining the philosophy of this revolutionary movement comprising an international band of artists, sculptors and poets - Umberto Boccioni, Carlo Carrà, Luigi Russolo, Giacomo Balla, Gino Severini, among others. These Futurists loved speed, noise, machines and danger and also proclaimed a muscular political agenda linked to Fascism.

Richard Humphrey’s lively, richly illustrated book covers the origins, development and pervasive influence of this group that thrived on boldly setting down their Manifestos on such topics as art, sculpture, architecture, poetry, music, lust and war. Perhaps an effective way for me to provide a glimpse into what readers will encounter with this spirited band of visionaries is to share the eleven concise statements of their staunch political/cultural/artistic position at the heart of F. T. Marinetti’s Manifesto along with my comments. Here they are:

1. We intend to sing the love of danger, the habit of energy and fearlessness. ----------- Hardly the words of a group of sensitive, refined Romantic or Decadent aesthetes who make a hasty retreat from the world in order to live and create in the rarefied atmosphere and safety of isolation. No, no, no – right out on the city street, in your face, creating works of art that kick ass.


2. Courage, audacity, and revolt will be essential elements of our poetry. -------- These Futurists wanted to insert themselves into history rather than simply art history and that’s history as in the real flow of monumental events with a stomp of the jackboot – none of those reasoned, mild-mannered discussions or incremental changes so as not to upset the status quo. Just the opposite: think of black uniformed soldiers racing around in fast, sleek cars; think of a Mussolini rally with a crowd of thousands cheering in response to impassioned rhetoric, words of fire and action ; think of the Italian dictator shooting off air raid sirens just to keep the population on their toes.

3. Up to now literature has exalted a pensive immobility, ecstasy, and sleep. We intend to exalt aggressive action, a feverish insomnia, the racer’s stride, the mortal leap, the punch and the slap. ---------- The now famous myth of the writer as tough guy. Years after Marinetti’s Manifesto, the tradition has been carried forward by writers like Ernest Hemingway, Henry Miller and Charles Bukowski, tough guys who take time out from daring adventures and barroom brawls to punch and slap the keys of their typewriter.

4. We affirm that the world’s magnificence has been enriched by a new beauty: the beauty of speed. A racing car whose hood is adorned with great pipes, like serpents of explosive breath—a roaring car that seems to ride on grapeshot is more beautiful than the Victory of Samothrace. ----------- Ah, those noising, revving autos speeding along the highway. Actually, to my mind, there is an even more powerful display of gleaming silver pipes and symbol of roaring danger and speed: the modern motorcycle. With so many revving, gleaming motorcycles and lists of driver deaths, the vision of the Futurists is still very much with us.



5. We want to hymn the man at the wheel, who hurls the lance of his spirit across the Earth, along the circle of its orbit. ------- This statement of constantly driving a high speeds, defying death at every turn, shooting left and right, watching explosions all around you anticipates our culture of high speed ultra-violent video and computer games and, of course, ultra-violent movies and films. Again, the spirit of Marinetti and the Futurists are with us still.

6. The poet must spend himself with ardor, splendor, and generosity, to swell the enthusiastic fervor of the primordial elements. ---------- We all have seen and heard our modern day poets of enthusiasm, fervor and primal energy: rock stars.

7. Except in struggle, there is no more beauty. No work without an aggressive character can be a masterpiece. Poetry must be conceived as a violent attack on unknown forces, to reduce and prostrate them before man. ---------- Those Futurists proclaimed spiritual vitality by living in the present and through the aesthetics of action. Movement is everything. Even a little doggie can get in on the action. And what would the Futurists say if you asked them about art that should be created to endure over time? Answer: Vai all'inferno!



8. We stand on the last promontory of the centuries! Why should we look back, when what we want is to break down the mysterious doors of the Impossible? Time and Space died yesterday. We already live in the absolute, because we have created eternal, omnipresent speed. --- Go, Futurists, go! Viva la speed!

9. We will glorify war—the world’s only hygiene—militarism, patriotism, the destructive gesture of freedom-bringers, beautiful ideas worth dying for, and scorn for woman. ---------- Ah, the futurists are coming - duck and cover! Too bad the futurists were fascists. What would Marinetti would have to say in the aftermath of Nazi Germany and fascist Italy? Also, what did Marinetti’s wife have to say about her husband’s Manifesto?

10. We will destroy the museums, libraries, academies of every kind, will fight moralism, feminism, every opportunistic or utilitarian cowardice. ----------- Take no prisoners! And the hell with all that stuffy, refined culture! Again, for me, this brings to mind the modern mentality of action video games and action movies: the more violent, the more speed, the more multiple heavy-duty explosions to loud, heavy metal rock and chances to pull the trigger and fire, the better.


11. We will sing of great crowds excited by work, by pleasure, and by riot . . . ---------- The ultimate Futurist modern day event: the rave concert.
… (mehr)

This book is an excellent introduction to a difficult subject. The artist Percy Wyndham Lewis was, at the same time, the most significant British painter, certainly of the twentieth century, but arguably, also of all time. As with most original characters, it is almost impossible to fit him neatly into a box and this, infuriates many people.

This little book; it only manages 80 pages, with an extensive index and a rich filling of illustrations, manages to give a surprisingly good flavour of the man and his work, without attempting to squeeze him into any particular category. Lewis was a socialist, but an appeaser of Hitler; he was a futurist but opposed to the slide of art into complete abstraction: in so many ways, he did not fit a stereotype.

One of the tests that I give to a book, such as this, is whether it has extinguished my interest in a subject, or whether I will go on to read and experience more of the genre. With Lewis, I can honestly say that this tome has whetted my appetite. I shall be investigating the nearest galleries to have a smattering of his works and looking out for the books which he wrote. This is not the only book that one will ever need on Lewis, it is a smorgasbord, from which to test one's appreciation of the menu - and I know that I am hungry for more!… (mehr)