This new technology introduced time as a fourth dimension, which artists quickly sought to duplicate in their artworks. .
The other great innovation of the time was the invention of the motor car. This new development in technology took the Futurists in particular, by storm. The founder of Futurism, Filippo Marinetti, proclaims in his manifesto: "a racing car whose hood is adorned with great pipes, like serpents of explosive breath, a roaring car that seems to ride on grapeshot, is more beautiful than the Victory of Samothrace." .
Marinetti also spoke of the new technological developments of machinery and industry that were taking place at the time, which were of great inspiration to him and his fellow Futurists: "we shall sing of construction sights beneath their harsh electric moons; the gluttonous railway stations gulping smoking serpents; factories hanging from the clouds by the string of their chimney smoke" . It was this kind of thinking that gave birth to works such as The City Rises by Umberto Boccioni.
The City Rises 1910 is an artwork which represents the true spirit of the time. Boccioni had an interest in representing scene of riot in powerfully dynamic ways, and The City Rises is one such work. It depicts a riot scene of workers of the "machine age", with an interesting dichotomy between the traditional horses which were commonly used in construction, and the new-age factories of machinery in the background. This demonstrates the transition of the time, into a new century, the reality of which was the invention and use of technology. .
The work epitomizes the generation of the modern world of the city, in contrast between pygmy men and their mighty engines harnessed for construction. It was a turning point in history, of which Boccioni himself was well aware: "I am nauseated by old walls and all palaces. I want the new, the expensive, the formidable ." Artists at the time sought to move ahead, inspired by the new technology that was arising, to capture the spirit of the new century.
