Week 9

Manifesto

When researching my manifesto I did lots of research (most if not all of which is documented within my sketchbooks) some of the most prominent to me from a theory point of view but also as general sources of inspiration :

• “Manifesto!” - bbc 4 Radio show (2017)

• Guerrilla girls - being bound to a set of responsibilities based off the gender you were born as also exemplified by Mierle Laderman Ukeles’ MANIFESTO FOR MAINTENANCE ART (1969)

• Horror - Creepy Radio shows from horror games (Silent hill PT, Kojima Productions, 2014) and films and Online series’ about entities pretending and failing to be human such as the Mandela Catalogue (Kister, 2022)

  One thing I noticed about my beliefs and practice is that I am far better at summarising a concept with an image, a feeling, an instance instead of words so I decided that unless I write an absolute encyclopedia it makes sense for my manifesto to encapsulate my beliefs instead of spelling them out.

As a lot of the themes in my work is stem from chaos, fear or Manic Episodes. I wanted my manifesto to be in neutral ground as a manifesto written in a manic episode and one written out of it are very different. For me a middle ground is in the shower and just as I go to bed. These are the places I’ve learned to practice self care and mindfulness most effectively. These are safe zones where thoughts can be had but not developed so I felt it was only right to set the scene for my manifesto in this space. Initially I was thinking of filming something in the shower and having no text at all but this is the sketch I ended up with

I created it in the Style of Paula Rego following the tutorial provided by the Tate (2020) after Fae said my style and use of colour reminded her of Rego. I feel if I ever ventured down the rendered illustration look over ink Rego is definitely a great person to look at. but for this particular piece I enjoyed the freedom of sketching in various media and layers.

The Final Manifesto

‘I = We, You ≠ I’

The title of this piece comes from the various thought developments in my sketchbook. If you apply the rule of the title to the message a hierarchy between artist and viewer is instantly created. It also affirms my distance to the interpretations of the viewer.

Initial Gioconda Lead sketch with figure blocked in

A blurry expressive background with detals in the clear areas gave the illusion of a mirror - a completely new concept for me but my reference photos have been extremely helpful

Aspects from my manifesto were digitally scribbled over a photo so I could plan compositions

I used some red chalk on my finger to write the manifesto and make it look as finger-written as possible

Details of the chalk text and the start of the text blocking

Full text colour block before detail rendering

Artists I looked to for inspiration

‘A Bar at the Folies-Bergère’ - Édouard Manet

Mark Tennant - Untitled

John Byrne Self Portrait

‘My Bed’ - Tracey Emin

Darren Jones - ‘Time and Place’

‘Self-portrait in a steamy mirror Painting’ - Judyta Krawczyk

‘Enlightened Baths’ - Marlene Struss

‘Lost Dreams 27’ - Galeriile Carol

‘Steamy Window’ - Jane Watson

‘Foggy Look.’ - BOOLE Art

Reference List

Kister, A. (2022) The Mandela Catalogue. 9 August 2021. Available at: https://youtube.com/@MandelaCatalogue (Accessed: 31 October 2022)

Kojima Productions (2014) Silent Hill: PT [Video Game] Konami

Manifesto! (2017) BBC Radio 4 11 August. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b090fwds (Accessed 28 November 2022)

Tate (2020) How to Draw Like Paula Rego. 12 May 2020. Available at: https://youtu.be/LAZimVk7lGY (Accessed: 28 November 2022)

Ukeles, M. L. (1969) MANIFESTO FOR MAINTENANCE ART Available at: https://queensmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Ukeles-Manifesto-for-Maintenance-Art-1969.pdf (accessed: 4 December 2022)