I enjoyed vast difference between manifestos and their ideas. I found Marinetti’s manifesto aggressive, Constructivist’s manifesto – thirsty for actions and narrow-minded, and Bauhaus’s manifesto passionate. I would disagree that there is no more beauty, except in a struggle. I would disapprove of the ‘work for life’ notion. And I would say that every artisan, architect, photographer, dancer, and anyone who creates an artifact to express something or themselves is an artist. But then I could be narrow-minded myself, couldn’t I? All of the manifestos I read were influenced by the societal trends and personal experiences. I couldn’t help but wonder what the authors were thinking about while writing them? Did they think their manifesto will be the one that reflects the visions of the future generations? Were they hoping to suit the needs of the current society? Could they be the ‘loyal subjects’ of social trends? What would be their reaction to the Tik Tok videos as an art expression? And could they adapt to the new era of virtual reality?
I find it is rather funny that without electricity our small virtual world that we visit every day would cease to exist. And yet the world of the Internet is our galaxy. Such a homey galaxy that we find comfort in, as Jessica Helfand noticed. A galaxy of information that we don’t have capabilities to process at the speed it’s changing. Maybe that’s why we still need material art? To stay grounded to the material reality, our emotions and thoughts. Some say that website browsing, social media or watching TV prevent us from thinking. Or could they be saving us from worries, anxiety, thoughts, rethinking the same conversations over and over again, and indulge in going on a memory lane? I guess I’m posing more questions than I could answer.
Combining these two realities seems yet impossible, but what’s wrong with going between online reality and material reality all the time? Yes, they have different space and time continuum, but we are not ‘slaves’ to any of them. We can easily get lost on the web and that’s truly scary. For instance, when you realize you spent hours looking at your phone. But still, you’re not a ‘slave’ to your phone. You made a decision to spend time in Internet reality that has different time continuum. We’re not trapped. We simply haven’t learned the rules yet.
And to end my text that consists of a lot of questions I want to quote Marinetti in their manifesto: “Why should we look back when what we want is to break down the mysterious doors of the Impossible?”. To me the answer is simple. That’s just not all we want. While watching YouTube video, I realized that what Milton Glazer did was: they looked back. And it allowed them to create a series of iterations on famous paintings and a TED talk. We look back because we can find inspiration to break down these mysterious doors. The manifestos create some sort of guidance or rules that one need to follow if they want to be an artist. And I say we can’t be limited by the rules if we want to break down the mysterious doors of the Impossible.
My own Manifesto:
The rationale behind my manifesto is following. I’m not an artist, architect, photographer, dancer, singer or anyone else who society may call an artist. But I do call myself that. I’m an empath by nature, I’m a problem-solver because of my upbringing, I’m a psychologist due to my chosen education, and I’m an artist because “Art is whatever”.
* I will not be limited by other’s unwanted perspectives and criticism. But I will draw power from them to see what I can’t.
* I will stay modest to not be blinded by my ego. And brave to be able to step out of my comfort zone and the rules others may force on me and my work.
* I’ll not stop learning and practice self-expression because that’s the way to the progress.
*When I don’t have inspiration, I’ll find it in my surroundings and everywhere I go because I can.
* I will try not to compare my work with others’ but when I do, I’ll reflect on this experience and use it to become a better version of myself as an artist and a human-being.
* While creating something, I’ll use moral values as my guidance and stay aware of the way my work can affect others.
* I’ll strive for the feedback from all kinds of people to be able to fully reflect on my work.
* I can and will use different mediums and practices to enrich my experience.
* Lastly, design is not a way to procrastinate, but it could be a way to relax and learn about yourself.
* Design is not the means to prove anything to others, but rather a way to inspire them.
* Design can be flexible and can change over time, and it’s okay. Hence, this manifesto as a form of art and self-expression can and probably will evolve. And that’s also okay.
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