ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Vorticism

Vorticism is like making a picture by mixing different shapes, colors, and lines. Imagine playing with your building blocks, where you have square blocks, round blocks, and triangle blocks, and you are trying to make something beautiful out of them. Now, imagine that you can also draw lines with your blocks, and these lines can be curved, straight, or zigzag. Vorticism is like doing all of this but on paper, using paint, or other materials.

Vorticism is a type of art that started around 1914 in London. It was a new way of making art, where artists wanted to show the speed, energy, and power of the modern world. They wanted their art to look like it was moving, just like the cars, trains, and planes that were starting to appear all around them. They called their art "vortices" or "vortexes" because it looked like there was a swirling motion to it, like a whirlpool.

Vorticism artists used geometric shapes, like squares, triangles, and circles, to make their art. They also used bold colors like red, blue, and yellow. They often used lines that were sharp, jagged or zig-zagged, which gave a sense of motion to the art. They wanted to show that the modern world had a lot of energy and could be exciting, but it could also be dangerous and explosive, just like their art.

One of the most famous Vorticist artists was a man named Wyndham Lewis. He painted many pictures that showed the energy of the modern world, like factories, cars, and war machines. He often used dark colors like black and grey to show the danger and violence of the modern world. Other famous Vorticist artists include Frederick Etchells and Edward Wadsworth.

In summary, Vorticism is a type of art that shows the energy and movement of the modern world using geometric shapes, bold colors, and sharp lines. It is like making a picture using building blocks that create a swirling motion, just like the whirlpool. The artists who created Vorticism wanted to show that the modern world could be exciting and dangerous, and they did that by making art that looked like it was exploding with energy.