Research Festival

Figure 1. Manifesto I wrote in Unit 2.

For the research festival I plan to rewrite and publish my artist manifesto (see Figure 1) in a poster format. I have chosen to do this because writing my manifesto was a key part of my development as an artist over the MA. I found boiling my practice down to a few core principles to be an enjoyable, challenging and overall clarifying experience. The purpose of this manifesto was to set out the guiding principles of my art practice in order that I would have a set of ground rules to refer to when I am unsure about what to do with my art. Producing it helped still my thoughts and give me the beginnings of an identity as an artist.

I plan to make my publication by hand/letterpress because handwriting plays a big part of my research. I feel much more connected to what I write by hand compared to what I type, and connection to the words feels especially important in a manifesto. I also want to pay homage to the long history of art manifestos that were written in very simple formats. I hope to produce some prints of my manifesto that will be available for people to take home with them.

To prepare for rewriting of my manifesto, I have been reading the book ‘100 Artists Manifestos: From the Futurists to the Stuckists' Selected by Alex Danchev. I have found the conviction and boldness of these manifestos inspiring, even when I have disagreed with their views. I have saved quotes from different manifestos that resonate with my practice as well as styles of writing I find compelling. I am referring to these as I rewrite my manifesto.