ART MANIFESTO
An artist manifesto is a potentially changing and evolving document with two uses. Firstly, it guides the artist back to their own values at times of crisis and doubt. Secondly it introduces them to others and allows the person and process of the artist to be seen as well as the finished artefacts.
The following Art Manifesto statement focuses on the purpose of what I am doing and the why in which I am doing it. It represents who I was when I wrote it and the direction I am travelling towards and is not a statement of what you should think. It is shared as an example in the hope that you will find it helpful in writing your own or so you can see if I might be a good fit as a coach.
You may also like to read my Grace Manifesto which is a more lighthearted set of supportive reminders for hard times as a creator.
- Process, and consideration of process matters more to me than the artefacts of that process, which are themselves of most value to me when the makes people think or feel seen and included, or when the work inspires a moment of change or refection however small.
- Input is as important as output. Time to think matters. My practice includes reading, looking , reflecting, reareaching, reprocessing, reforming and reassembling.
- The final product we make are our days. Art and writing are tools to create joy, stimulation, satisfaction and legacy. They form an environment in which to practice generosity and in which to reach back along the path to help others.
- Slow work, private work, invisible internal work – these are hard but valuable. Resisting society’s demand to always be on, to always prove your worth by showing and selling is challenging but necessary both for wellbeing and for depth of work. This does not however demand total isolation. Connection sustains. Work at that too.
- Art is communication not competition. Creativity at its heart is a process of discovery and communication, manufacture and selling being a delightful but secondary consideration.
- Art and writing are a way to repair the world by modelling how disparate ideas, viewpoints and opinions can be brought together in harmonious combination.
- The ripple effect is real. As an artist/ writer I may never know how, when or where their art has made a difference to someone else.
- The journey is more important than the destination. Use a goal as a direction not a ‘be all’ end point. Enjoy small steps along a way and allow meanders and rests. Take in the view. One degree of turn will get you to an entirely different perspective and set you on a brand new path. You have choices in life even if it is only how you respond to a situation. You can make yourself as much as you can make a painting.
October 2024