The artwork that I found very interesting in the MET museum is called “Unique Forms of Continuity in Space” by Umberto Boccioni in 1913. He is one of the most influential artists among the Italian futurists, an art movement. He lost his life at the age of thirty-three while supporting the modern technological concept. He created this artwork before a year World War I broke out. It is one of the artworks from futurism. Futurism basically is the prediction of what the future looks like with evolution of technology and industrialization. The futurist painters at this time period practiced this idea in every medium of art to make people aware of their vision through their forms of art like painting, sculpture, designing and much more.
This sculpture is one of the few pieces of Boccioni. This unknown figure is made with bronze. It stands about three and a half feet tall. It is given a human-like body with three dimensions attached with wing-like extensions in the body parts. When we look at the sculpture, we can see how one leg is placed forward and the other is placed backward almost like a human position of walking. It looks different from different angles. It gives us an idea about the rise of modernism through an art. It is unbelievable how our ancients were able to predict how the world was going to look like in a couple of decades with the help of technology. It kind of depicts the concept that man will slowly distinct and will reform in a man like robotic object who has more power and energy that human. It is a perfect example of the Futurist movement in Modernism due to its strength and capable qualities that could evolve the modern society.
For me, this artwork is a meaningful sculpture and anyone looking at it for the first time can guess why the person would’ve made this back in the days before the rise of technology. The thing I liked the most about this sculpture is that you can see it from all the angles and it is interesting how at some point it looked more abstract than a figure itself. I think it is a great idea of the artist to deliver his concept to the people by turning his work into an artwork which is easily understood by all the common people who can or can’t read and write. It gives us a sense of hope for the future and human destiny.