Speed Limits

September 17, 2010–February 20, 2011
The Wolfsonian–FIU @ 1001 Washington Avenue

One hundred years ago, the Manifesto of Futurism proclaimed that “the world's magnificence has been enriched by a new beauty: the beauty of speed.” A century later, the tempo of life continues to accelerate, propelled by the democratization of air travel and automobility and by the ubiquity of portable media and communications devices. Yet speed seems anything but beautiful to a growing chorus of voices denouncing its deleterious impact upon contemporary life, whether from the standpoint of environmental devastation, stressful lifestyles, urban sprawl, out-of-control derivatives markets, or its effects upon bodies (fast food) and minds (attention deficit disorders).

Speed Limits probed the powers and limits of the modern era's cult of speed in five key domains: circulation and transit; construction and the built environment; efficiency; the measurement and representation of rapid motion; and the mind/body relationship. Critical rather than commemorative in spirit, it explored a single Futurist theme from the standpoint of its contemporary legacies. It was an exhibition about complex choices and complex consequences, about the polarities and intertwinings between fast and slow.

Speed Limits was organized by The Wolfsonian–FIU with the Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal. A companion installation, Picking up the Pace: Selections from The Wolfsonian Collection, was presented by The Wolfsonian Library.