100 years from now
A public art installation in Rome
The project began with the question "Are we still Futurists?"100 years after Italian Futurism’s fervent celebration of a world to come – one that would be built of technology, industrialization, speed, and power – how do we feel about the present these values have created and the future they now suggest? Do we share the Futurists’ unequivocal enthusiasm for tomorrow or are we experiencing an Anxious Futurism – a collective unease about what the next century may bring?
1000 signs were installed in Rome, each displaying one of five open-ended phrases. The phrases are triggers, written to provoke our growing anxiety toward the forces that are shaping our future including technology, authority, time limits, and the environment. Together they create a short poem based on Futurist ideas of disruption, tension, and spectacle.
The individual phrases were tagged in Google Adwords to create a feedback loop. Viewers performing Google searches would find banner ads that link directly to the project website. The site was a means to focus the ideas the signs suggest and a way to share some of the thoughts they precipitate.
The project was launched on February 20, 2011, the anniversary of the publication of the Futurist manifesto. It ran for 30 days. 100yearsfromnow was produced with the support of the Comune di Roma, and with grants from private donors and the American Academy in Rome.
Phrase 1 of 5
Via dei Sardi, San Lorenzo
Phrase 2 of 5
Largo Argentina, Centro
Phrase 3 of 5
Via dei Quirinale, Centro
Phrase 4 of 5
Foro Boario
Phrase 5 of 5
Piazzale Ostiense
Phrase 1 of 5
Via Beniamino Franklin, Testaccio
Phrase 2 of 5
Via dei Volsci, San Lorenzo
Phrase 3 of 5
Viale di Trastevere, Trastevere
Phrase 4 of 5
Lungotevere della Farnesina, Trastevere
Phrase 5 of 5
Via della Palombella, Centro
Phrase 1 of 5
Via Treviso, San Lorenzo
Phrase 2 of 5
Via Marmorata, Testaccio
Phrase 3 of 5
Via della Rotunda, Centro
Phrase 4 of 5
Casilina, Pigneto
Phrase 5 of 5
Piazza della Rotunda, Centro
Phrase 1 of 5
Piazza Testaccio, Testaccio
Phrase 2 of 5
Lungotevere della Farnesina, Trastevere
Phrase 3 of 5
Via dei Volsci, San Lorenzo
Phrase 4 of 5
Via Tiburtina, San Lorenzo
Phrase 5 of 5
Via Nuoro, Pigneto
Phrase 1 of 5
Via Gacinto Carini, Monteverde
Phrase 2 of 5
Piazza Roma, Trastevere
Phrase 3 of 5
Piazza Testaccio, Testaccio
Phrase 4 of 5
Largo Argentina, Centro
Phrase 5 of 5
Via di Santa Bibiana, San LorenzoJeremy Mende is a visual artist and designer from San Francisco, California. If questioned he will deny being a Modernist but will enthusiastically admit to a belief in beauty and its critical role in producing things of value and durability.
Jeremy received his BA in psychology from UCLA and his MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art. In 2000 he founded MendeDesign, a creative practice that balances commercial projects with public art installations. The studio has been recognized internationally for its work and currently has pieces in several collections including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Jeremy is a professor of design at California College of the Arts where he teaches experimental typography, critical theory, and design history.