Category Archives: Futurism

Retrofuturism (adjective retrofuturistic or retrofuture) is a trend in the creative arts showing the influence of depictions of the future produced in an earlier era. If "futurism is sometimes called a 'science' bent on anticipating what will come, retrofuturism is the remembering of that anticipation."[1] Characterized by a blend of old-fashioned "retro" styles with futuristic technology, retrofuturism explores the themes of tension between past and future, and between the alienating and empowering effects of technology. Primarily reflected in artistic creations and modified technologies that realize the imagined artifacts of its parallel reality, retrofuturism can be seen as "an animating perspective on the world."[2] But it has also manifested in the worlds of fashion, architecture, design, music, literature, film, and video games.

The word "retrofuturism," then, combines more recent ideas of nostalgia and retro with older traditions of futurism. A recent neologism, the actual term "retrofuturism" was coined by American Lloyd Dunn[3] in 1983,[4] according to fringe art magazine Retrofuturism, which was published between 1988 and 1993.[5]

Retrofuturism builds on ideas of futurism, but the latter term functions differently in several different contexts. In avant-garde artistic, literary and design circles, Futurism is a long-standing and well established term. But in its more popular form, futurism (sometimes referred to as futurology) is "an early optimism that focused on the past and was rooted in the nineteenth century, an early-twentieth-century 'golden age' that continued long into the 1960s Space Age." [6]

Retrofuturism is first and foremost based on modern but changing notions of "the future". As Guffey notes, retrofuturism is "a recent neologism," but it "builds on futurists fevered visions of space colonies with flying cars, robotic servants, and interstellar travel on display there; where futurists took their promise for granted, retro-futurism emerged as a more skeptical reaction to these dreams."[7] It took its current shape in the 1970s, a time when technology was rapidly changing. From the advent of the personal computer to the birth of the first test tube baby, this period was characterized by intense and rapid technological change. But many in the general public began to question whether applied science would achieve its earlier promisethat life would inevitably improve through technological progress. In the wake of the Vietnam War, environmental depredations, and the energy crisis, many commentators began to question the benefits of applied science. But they also wondered, sometimes in awe, sometimes in confusion, at the scientific positivism evinced by earlier generations. Retrofuturism "seeped into academic and popular culture in the 1960s and 1970s," inflecting George Lucas Star Wars and the paintings of pop artist Kenny Scharf alike".[8] Surveying the optimistic futurism of the early twentieth century, the historians Joe Corn and Brian Horrigan remind us that retrofuturism is "a history of an idea, or a system of ideas--an ideology. The future, or course, does not exist except as an act of belief or imagination."[9]

Retrofuturism incorporates two overlapping trends which may be summarized as the future as seen from the past and the past as seen from the future.

The first trend, retrofuturism proper, is directly inspired by the imagined future which existed in the minds of writers, artists, and filmmakers in the pre-1960 period who attempted to predict the future, either in serious projections of existing technology (e.g. in magazines like Science and Invention) or in science fiction novels and stories. Such futuristic visions are refurbished and updated for the present, and offer a nostalgic, counterfactual image of what the future might have been, but is not.

The second trend is the inverse of the first: futuristic retro. It starts with the retro appeal of old styles of art, clothing, mores, and then grafts modern or futuristic technologies onto it, creating a mlange of past, present, and future elements. Steampunk, a term applying both to the retrojection of futuristic technology into an alternative Victorian age, and the application of neo-Victorian styles to modern technology, is a highly successful version of this second trend. In the movie Space Station 76 (2014), mankind has reached the stars, but clothes, technology, furnitures and above all social taboos are purposely highly reminiscent of the mid-1970s.

In practice, the two trends cannot be sharply distinguished, as they mutually contribute to similar visions. Retrofuturism of the first type is inevitably influenced by the scientific, technological, and social awareness of the present, and modern retrofuturistic creations are never simply copies of their pre-1960 inspirations; rather, they are given a new (often wry or ironic) twist by being seen from a modern perspective.

In the same way, futuristic retro owes much of its flavor to early science fiction (e.g. the works of Jules Verne and H. G. Wells), and in a quest for stylistic authenticity may continue to draw on writers and artists of the desired period.

Both retrofuturistic trends in themselves refer to no specific time. When a time period is supplied for a story, it might be a counterfactual present with unique technology; a fantastic version of the future; or an alternate past in which the imagined (fictitious or projected) inventions of the past were indeed real. Examples include the film Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, set in an imaginary 1939, and The Rocketeer franchise, set in 1938, both of which are also examples of the genre known as dieselpunk.[10]Adam Reed's animated comedy series Archer is also set in a retrofuture aesthetic world. The import of retrofuturism has, in recent years, come under considerable discussion. Some, like the German architecture critic Niklas Maak, see retrofuturism as "nothing more than an aesthetic feedback loop recalling a lost belief in progress, the old images of the once radically new."[11]Bruce McCall calls retrofuturism a "faux nostalgia" the nostalgia for a future that never happened.[12]

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Retrofuturism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Futurism Technologies - Custom Offshore Software ...

CHRISTIAN ESCHATOLOGY | home

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FUTURISM AND DISPENSATIONALISM

" (1) The time of the end in Daniel begins with the violation by "the prince that shall come" (i.e. "little horn," "man of sin," "Beast") of his covenant with the Jews for the restoration of the temple and sacrifice Daniel 9:27 and his presentation of himself as God; Daniel 9:27; 11:36-38; Matthew 24:15; 2 Thessalonians 2:4; Revelation 13:4-6 and ends with his destruction by the appearing of the Lord in glory. ; 2 Thessalonians 2:8; Revelation 19:19,20.

(2) The duration of the "time of the end" is three and one half years, coinciding with the last half of the seventieth week of Daniel. Daniel 7:25; 12:7; Revelation 13:5."

So the "time of the end" isn't supposed to begin until the middle of the 7-year tribulation at some point in the future, which would be 3-1/2 years after Christians are to have been removed from the earth, during the "pre-tribulation" "rapture". Here's how Daniel's book closes:

Daniel 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, [even] to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

Daniel 12:9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words [are] closed up and sealed till the time of the end.

Since the book of Daniel was "shut up" and sealed until the "time of the end", and Scofield suggests that time is not supposed to begin until the middle of some seven-year period yet in the future, then how could any 19th century interpretation of the figurative language of Daniel's prophetic vision from prior to the "time of the end", be considered other than hopelessly compromised? Yet the seven-year tribulation - upon which Darby's eschatological scheme is based, as held throughout the 20th century futurist church - comes directly from John Darby's early 19th century interpretation of Daniel's 70th week, which is the most contentious and hotly debated element in the book of Daniel! Was John Darby given an exclusive franchise and access through the seal on the book of Daniel in the early 19th century, prior to when futurists themselves are expected to believe the book will be unsealed yet in the future?

"CHAPTER V

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FUTURISM AND DISPENSATIONALISM - Christian eschatology

Futurism. Its something of a paradox. The future cannot be predicted; but in envisioning it, we can create self-fulfilling prophecies. You could go crazy just thinking about it so instead lets just say that the dawn of a new decade has sent 2010s fashion trends into sci-fi and futurism overdrive.

So how do we define futuristic fashion? As a Spring 2010 fashion trend it seems to be less about gadgetry and more about future environments. Were faced with collections that contemplate dystopia or evolutionary change. Topics of science fiction are woven into the threads of some designers clothing, while others base their designs on more traditional views of futurism.

Futuristic fashion at Alexander McQueen Spring 2010

The futuristic influences upon fashion in 2010 are far and wide. Weve seen everything from the re-interpretation of 1960s views of space age fashion (like the raised collars and metallic fabrics at Louise Goldin), through to reptilian eco-evolutionary creatures at Alexander McQueen and Julien MacDonald; while the likes of Karl Lagerfeld had metallic foil detailing which more called to mind the abstract art of the original early 20th century futurists, who revered technology and speed.

If anything the continual thread through it all is a deep contemplation about what the future might hold. Theres wonder more so than excitement; and, for some, trepidation. Science, technology, and the environment and humankinds effect on the world are playing upon many minds. But its not all doom and gloom. Futuristic themes can be fun and playful, as well as stark and fierce.

A subset of the futurism trend is the future warrior; a fierce and forwards-looking collision of the military and tribal trends. Ancient civilisations come to life with a futuristic twist, in leather tunics, metal plating, and war paint. Unequivocally fearless and with room for endless creativity, the main criteria for the modern warrior is confidence. Click to read more about the future warrior trend.

Again this trend spans multiple styles and influences, but here are some of the significant common elements weve seen appearing:

Louise Goldin Spring 2010

This is one trend for which the runway interpretations were spectacular especially the likes of Alexander McQueen, who put together an entire evolved look. But if you dont want to look like an Avatar creature from the world of Pandora, or a twisted faun that belongs in Pans Labrynth, maybe the whole horn-hair and prosthetic gills things isnt for you. Were not surprised.

McQueens dresses translate well to the street, however, once you leave all that stuff behind; as do many others of the sci-fi inspired looks. The key is to be bold and embrace things a little strange and, well, alien. But you can also play them down by pairing futuristic pieces with more classic ones. Just remember that when it comes to the future, were dealing with something that doesnt exist yet and so, the possibilities are endless.

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Fashionising: Futurism and Sci-Fi: Futuristic Fashion ...

We had stayed up all night, my friends and I, under hanging mosque lamps with domes of filigreed brass, domes starred like our spirits, shining like them with the prisoned radiance of electric hearts. For hours we had trampled our atavistic ennui into rich oriental rugs, arguing up to the last confines of logic and blackening many reams of paper with our frenzied scribbling.

An immense pride was buoying us up, because we felt ourselves alone at that hour, alone, awake, and on our feet, like proud beacons or forward sentries against an army of hostile stars glaring down at us from their celestial encampments. Alone with stokers feeding the hellish fires of great ships, alone with the black spectres who grope in the red-hot bellies of locomotives launched on their crazy courses, alone with drunkards reeling like wounded birds along the city walls.

Suddenly we jumped, hearing the mighty noise of the huge double-decker trams that rumbled by outside, ablaze with colored lights, like villages on holiday suddenly struck and uprooted by the flooding Po and dragged over falls and through gourges to the sea.

Then the silence deepened. But, as we listened to the old canal muttering its feeble prayers and the creaking bones of sickly palaces above their damp green beards, under the windows we suddenly heard the famished roar of automobiles.

Lets go! I said. Friends, away! Lets go! Mythology and the Mystic Ideal are defeated at last. Were about to see the Centaurs birth and, soon after, the first flight of Angels!... We must shake at the gates of life, test the bolts and hinges. Lets go! Look there, on the earth, the very first dawn! Theres nothing to match the splendor of the suns red sword, slashing for the first time through our millennial gloom!

We went up to the three snorting beasts, to lay amorous hands on their torrid breasts. I stretched out on my car like a corpse on its bier, but revived at once under the steering wheel, a guillotine blade that threatened my stomach.

The raging broom of madness swept us out of ourselves and drove us through streets as rough and deep as the beds of torrents. Here and there, sick lamplight through window glass taught us to distrust the deceitful mathematics of our perishing eyes.

I cried, The scent, the scent alone is enough for our beasts.

And like young lions we ran after Death, its dark pelt blotched with pale crosses as it escaped down the vast violet living and throbbing sky.

But we had no ideal Mistress raising her divine form to the clouds, nor any cruel Queen to whom to offer our bodies, twisted like Byzantine rings! There was nothing to make us wish for death, unless the wish to be free at last from the weight of our courage!

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The Founding and Manifesto of Futurism

Futures studies (also called futurology) is the study of postulating possible, probable, and preferable futures and the worldviews and myths that underlie them. There is a debate as to whether this discipline is an art or science. In general, it can be considered as a branch of the social sciences and parallel to the field of history. History studies the past, futures studies considers the future. Futures studies (colloquially called "futures" by many of the field's practitioners) seeks to understand what is likely to continue and what could plausibly change. Part of the discipline thus seeks a systematic and pattern-based understanding of past and present, and to determine the likelihood of future events and trends.[1] Unlike the physical sciences where a narrower, more specified system is studied, futures studies concerns a much bigger and more complex world system. The methodology and knowledge are much less proven as compared to natural science or even social science like sociology, economics, and political science.

Futures studies is an interdisciplinary field, studying yesterday's and today's changes, and aggregating and analyzing both lay and professional strategies and opinions with respect to tomorrow. It includes analyzing the sources, patterns, and causes of change and stability in an attempt to develop foresight and to map possible futures. Around the world the field is variously referred to as futures studies, strategic foresight, futuristics, futures thinking, futuring, and futurology. Futures studies and strategic foresight are the academic field's most commonly used terms in the English-speaking world.

Foresight was the original term and was first used in this sense by H.G. Wells in 1932.[2] "Futurology" is a term common in encyclopedias, though it is used almost exclusively by nonpractitioners today, at least in the English-speaking world. "Futurology" is defined as the "study of the future."[3] The term was coined by German professor Ossip K. Flechtheim[citation needed] in the mid-1940s, who proposed it as a new branch of knowledge that would include a new science of probability. This term may have fallen from favor in recent decades because modern practitioners stress the importance of alternative and plural futures, rather than one monolithic future, and the limitations of prediction and probability, versus the creation of possible and preferable futures.[citation needed]

Three factors usually distinguish futures studies from the research conducted by other disciplines (although all of these disciplines overlap, to differing degrees). First, futures studies often examines not only possible but also probable, preferable, and "wild card" futures. Second, futures studies typically attempts to gain a holistic or systemic view based on insights from a range of different disciplines. Third, futures studies challenges and unpacks the assumptions behind dominant and contending views of the future. The future thus is not empty but fraught with hidden assumptions. For example, many people expect the collapse of the Earth's ecosystem in the near future, while others believe the current ecosystem will survive indefinitely. A foresight approach would seek to analyze and highlight the assumptions underpinning such views.

Futures studies does not generally focus on short term predictions such as interest rates over the next business cycle, or of managers or investors with short-term time horizons. Most strategic planning, which develops operational plans for preferred futures with time horizons of one to three years, is also not considered futures. Plans and strategies with longer time horizons that specifically attempt to anticipate possible future events are definitely part of the field.

The futures field also excludes those who make future predictions through professed supernatural means. At the same time, it does seek to understand the models such groups use and the interpretations they give to these models.

Johan Galtung and Sohail Inayatullah[4] argue in Macrohistory and Macrohistorians that the search for grand patterns of social change goes all the way back to Ssu-Ma Chien (145-90BC) and his theory of the cycles of virtue, although the work of Ibn Khaldun (13321406) such as The Muqaddimah[5] would be an example that is perhaps more intelligible to modern sociology. Some intellectual foundations of futures studies appeared in the mid-19th century; according to Wendell Bell, Comte's discussion of the metapatterns of social change presages futures studies as a scholarly dialogue.[6]

The first works that attempt to make systematic predictions for the future were written in the 18th century. Memoirs of the Twentieth Century written by Samuel Madden in 1733, takes the form of a series of diplomatic letters written in 1997 and 1998 from British representatives in the foreign cities of Constantinople, Rome, Paris, and Moscow.[7] However, the technology of the 20th century is identical to that of Madden's own era - the focus is instead on the political and religious state of the world in the future. Madden went on to write The Reign of George VI, 1900 to 1925, where (in the context of the boom in canal construction at the time) he envisioned a large network of waterways that would radically transform patterns of living - "Villages grew into towns and towns became cities".[8]

The genre of science fiction became established towards the end of the 19th century, with notable writers, including Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, setting their stories in an imagined future world.

According to W. Warren Wagar, the founder of future studies was H. G. Wells. His Anticipations of the Reaction of Mechanical and Scientific Progress Upon Human Life and Thought: An Experiment in Prophecy, was first serially published in The Fortnightly Review in 1901.[9] Anticipating what the world would be like in the year 2000, the book is interesting both for its hits (trains and cars resulting in the dispersion of population from cities to suburbs; moral restrictions declining as men and women seek greater sexual freedom; the defeat of German militarism, and the existence of a European Union) and its misses (he did not expect successful aircraft before 1950, and averred that "my imagination refuses to see any sort of submarine doing anything but suffocate its crew and founder at sea").[10][11]

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Futures studies - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Also see adhesives, bristol board, carding, card stock, corrugated cardboard, matboard, oaktag, and packaging.

focal length - In photography, the distance between the lens (its rear nodal point) and the focal plane (the film's or paper's surface).

Also see aperture, camera, f/stop, telephoto, and wide-angle.

focal plane - In photography, an image line at right angle to the optical axis passing through the focal point. This forms the plane of sharp focus when a camera is set on infinity.

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Futurism, described by art quotes on the Futurist artists ideas, their many Manifestos, the meaning of the Futurism art movement, the art characteristics and some history facts.

short introduction: Futurism was a very dynamic art movement of Italian origin; it started circa 1910 by Marinetti. Bendien explains Futurism essentially as an art & LIFE movement. Bendien describes here the main ideas of the Futurist artists and the meaning of the famous Futurist Manifesto.The Futurist artists were longing for a dynamic modern city-life, full of movement, vitality, power and energy. The roots of Futurism origin was this dynamic, modern city with its many cars, busy traffic movements, early airplanes, the daily noise, etc. Starting-point was the Futurist Manifesto in 1908, by poet and writer Marinetti; Futurist artists who followed him were Carra, Boccioni, Severini, Luigo Russolo, Balla etc.. These selected art-quotes on Futurism are taken from Trends in the Present Day Art of Painting, by Dutch art-critic Jacob Bendien. Editor, Fons Heijnsbroek translation, Anne Porcelijn.

Noise of the Street (detail), Boccioni 1911

- Futurism starts its theoretical manifestation more or less like other dogmatic movements, with all other expressions (art movements) encompassing just a few sentences. In fact, even more radically than did Neo Plasticism (= De Stijl).

- The first demand made by the Futurists is that the lazy spectator leave his comfortable chair, from which he can view the painting and be drawn into the centre of the painting ( the basic concept of Futurist ideas, fh!). This way the spectator will be less critical but experience the painting more spontaneously.

- Futurist art makes us ask ourselves whether we are capable of surrendering to a painting without criticizing it beforehand, and only passing judgment afterwards.

- In the first place Futurism is a philosophy of life, based on the question of how to push life to its greatest possible force and fullness. It asks itself only: what creates the most turbulence?

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Futurism, explained in meaning facts & art characteristics

Although a nascent Futurism can be seen surfacing throughout the very early years of that century, the 1907 essay Entwurf einer neuen ?sthetik der Tonkunst (Sketch of a New Aesthetic of Music) by the Italian composer Ferruccio Busoni is sometimes claimed as its true jumping-off point. Futurism was a largely Italian and Russian movement although it also had adherents in other countries.

The Futurists explored every medium of art, including painting, sculpture, poetry, theatre, music, architecture and even gastronomy. The Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti was the first among them to produce a manifesto of their artistic philosophy in his Manifesto of Futurism (1909), first released in Milan and published in the French paper Le Figaro (February 20). Marinetti summed up the major principles of the Futurists, including a passionate loathing of ideas from the past, especially political and artistic traditions. He and others also espoused a love of speed, technology and violence. The car, the plane, the industrial town were all legendary for the Futurists, because they represented the technological triumph of man over nature.

Marinetti's impassioned polemic immediately attracted the support of the young Milanese painters ? Boccioni, Carr?, and Russolo ? who wanted to extend Marinetti's ideas to the visual arts (Russolo was also a composer, and introduced Futurist ideas into his compositions). The painters Balla and Severini met Marinetti in 1910 and together these artists represented Futurism's first phase.

The painter and sculptor Umberto Boccioni (1882 - 1916) wrote the Manifesto of Futurist Painters in 1910 in which he vowed: "We will fight with all our might the fanatical, senseless and snobbish religion of the past, a religion encouraged by the vicious existence of museums. We rebel against that spineless worshipping of old canvases, old statues and old bric-a-brac, against everything which is filthy and worm-ridden and corroded by time. We consider the habitual contempt for everything which is young, new and burning with life to be unjust and even criminal."

Futurism in the 1920's and 1930's

Many Italian Futurists instinctively supported the rise of fascism in Italy in the hope of modernizing the society and the economy of a country that was still torn between unfilled industrial revolution in the North and the rural, archaic South. Some Futurists' glorification of modern warfare as the ultimate artistic expression and their intense nationalism also induced them to embrace Italian fascism. Many Futurists became associated with the regime over the 1920's, which gave them both official recognition and the ability to carry out important works, especially in architecture.

However, some leftists that came to Futurism in the earlier years continued to oppose Marinetti's domination of the artistic and political direction of Futurism.

Futurism expanded to encompass other artistic domains. In architecture, it was characterized by a distinctive thrust towards rationalism and modernism through the use of advanced building materials. In Italy, futurist architects were often at odds with the fascist state's tendency towards Roman imperial/classical aesthetic patterns. However several interesting futurist buildings were built in the years 1920?1940, including many public buildings: stations, maritime resorts, post offices, etc. See, for example, Trento's railway station built by Angiolo Mazzoni (as you can see in the picture on the right).

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Futurism - Styles & Movements - Art in the Picture.com

Rocket Lab founder Peter Beck with the Electron rocket (Credit: Rocket Lab)

Commercial space company Rocket Lab has unveiled their Rutherford engine today. Rutherford is comprised of primarily all 3D-printed components, uses a batter-powered, electric turbopump to drive its propulsion and is capable of 4,600 pounds of thrust.

The Rutherford engine will power propulsion for both stages of Rocket Labs Electron rocket, a 20-meter rocket created out of carbon composites. The lightweight rocket is capable of delivering 100kg payloads to a 500km Sun-synchronous orbit or 400kg payloads to lower Earth orbits, according to the companys founder, Peter Beck. The companys ambitious goal is to begin a schedule next year that would involve launching up to 100 payloads a year from its launch facility in New Zealand, at a price of just $4.9 million per launch.

We started this program with 2 fundamental goals: Reducing cost and increasing frequency, Beck told me.

To accomplish this, the company is focused on the ability to quickly mass produce its rockets. The Electrons carbon composite body allows for molding. Using 3D-printing also radically reduces the time it takes to build the engine.

Typically a rocket engine takes months, said Beck. We can build a Rutherford in 3 days.

Test fire of the Rutherford engine. (Credit: Rocket Lab)

Rutherford is a liquid-fueled engine, powered by a mixture of kerosene and liquid oxygen. But the key feature that distinguishes it from other rocket engines is that it uses a battery to power brushless DC motors in the turbopump. Turbopumps are what propel fuel into the combustion chamber of a rocket engine at the correct flow rate and pressure. Typically, they use pressurized gas to power a turbine to do so, and that process is often coupled to the combustion itself, making the workings of the engine tightly coupled. That also creates some tough engineering problems with respect to the thermodynamics of the propulsion.

Using brushless DC motors and lithium battery cells, Rutherfords turbopumps decouple the thermodynamic problem immediately, said Beck. Were able to do things never capable before in a propulsion system. It takes complex piece of machinery and makes it simple. Of course, designing the engine this way comes with its own set of challenges. The electric motor that powers the pump is about the size of a can of soda, but operates at 50 horsepower. Thats not a trivial thing, notes Beck.

The companys launch plans have attracted attention from both investors and potential customers. Last month, the company closed a series B round for an undisclosed amount with K1W1, Khosla Ventures, and Bessemer Venture Partners. And according to Beck, the company has already received more than 30 commitments for launch.

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Rocket Lab Unveils A 3D-Printed, Battery-Powered Rocket Engine