Unique Forms of Continuity in Space
| Unique Forms of Continuity in Space | |
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| Artist | Umberto Boccioni |
| Year | 1913 |
| Type | Bronze |
| Dimensions | 111.44 cm (43.87 in) |
| Location | Museo del Novecento (1931 cast), Milan |
Unique Forms of Continuity in Space (Italian: Forme uniche della continuità nello spazio) is a bronze Futurist sculpture by Umberto Boccioni. It is seen as an expression of movement and fluidity. The sculpture is depicted on the obverse of the Italian-issue 20 cent euro coin.
The Futurist movement was striving to portray speed and forceful dynamism in their art. Boccioni, though trained as a painter, began sculpting in 1912. He exclaimed that "these days I am obsessed by sculpture! I believe I have glimpsed a complete renovation of that mummified art." The following year Boccioni completed the sculpture. His goal for the work was to depict a "synthetic continuity" of motion instead of an "analytical discontinuity" that he saw in artists like František Kupka and Marcel Duchamp. In 1912–13 Boccioni created several other sculptures including his 1913 Development of a Bottle in Space.
It seems clear to me that this succession is not to be found in repetition of legs, arms and faces, as many people have stupidly believed, but is achieved through the intuitive search for the unique form which gives continuity in space.
Unique Forms of Continuity in Space depicts a human-like figure apparently in motion. The sculpture has an aerodynamic and fluid form. As a pedestal, two blocks at the feet connect the figure to the ground. The figure is also armless and without a discernibly real face. The form was originally inspired by the sight of a football player moving on to a perfectly weighted pass.
Though Boccioni apparently reviled traditional sculpture, Unique Forms of Continuity in Space does resemble more realist works. It is reminiscent of the classical Winged Victory of Samothrace, which Filippo Marinetti, founder of Futurism, declared was inferior in beauty to a roaring car. The lack of arms also pays homage to Auguste Rodin's Walking Man.
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