trees are people too

A good place to start my analysis and understanding of a manifesto was with this simple definition:

Manifestos are thus often referred to in a political context, although the artistic connection is inescapable – artists themselves will hold certain political views and values and tend to align themselves with particular agendas, and these will influence a ‘manifesto’.

They span a number of different contexts, media and industries/practices, and seem to be approached with varying degrees of seriousness and playfulness. I think what is in it and the form it takes is irrelevant, as long as it assumes the intent of the artist/s – conveys what they think it should.

I have come across a few while researching, and these have been both collaborative and solo. Open manifesto is a collaborative project collecting the thoughts and musings of graphic designers, the freestyle art manifesto is a fantastic collective of guidelines that is derived from the values behind hip hop, but could apply to any form of expression, and the splasher manifesto discusses a collective’s desire to vandalize street art. I have even discovered a librarian’s manifesto on youtube.

So this gives me a start, but I have no idea whether I am on the right track. More and more it seems the manifesto could be moulded into any shape that I might want it to be. I’ll keep you updated on further findings.