Unique Forms of Continuity in Space by Umberto Boccioni

Thinking Through Martin Heidegger (1889-1976)’s “The Origin of the Work of Art”

Boccioni’s Unique Forms of Continuity in Space bursts with velocity. But from Heidegger’s viewpoint, this sculpture is not motion captured—it is Being as acceleration, world tearing forward through time.

The figure is dehumanized—no face, no arms—only muscular curves and aerodynamism. This is Dasein shattered into flux. Heidegger, though cautious about technological modernity, would see in this sculpture the setting-into-work of a truth of its time: Being overtaken by forwardness, the loss of pause.

The earth—bronze, war-like and metallic—shines but does not comfort. The world—machine, war, industry, future—screams through the form. This is not sculpture—it is impact, a figure who does not dwell, but displaces space as it moves. Heidegger would say this reveals a world in which Being is no longer presence, but pure futurity—humanity outrunning itself.