like their italian counterparts, the russian futurists were fascinated with the dynamism, speed, and restlessness of modern machines and urban life. they purposely sought to arouse controversy and to gain publicity by repudiating the static art of the past. the likes of pushkin and dostoevsky, according to "a slap in the face of public taste", should be "heaved overboard from the steamship of modernity". they acknowledged no authorities whatsoever; even filippo tommaso marinetti, when he arrived in russia on a proselytizing visit in 1914, was obstructed by most russian futurists, who did not profess to owe him anything.