Tips for writing your manifesto

 

Grayson Perry, 2014. Find out more here.

Write your own manifesto which identifies an issue and articulates a program for change. Your manifesto should describe how an artist or artwork might address the issue(s) you have named. This written text should be no longer than 300 words.

 Tips

Content:

  • Consider these questions: what inspires you? What do you value? Where do your ideas come from? What is your approach to creativity? Do you aspire to make any changes to these things? What should they be?
  • Consider your cultural background beliefs, conflicts, passions, desires, and the political issues with which you identify. Ask yourself what an artist or designer (and their artwork) should do about these things.
  • Consider the different types of content: a declaration or set of rules for how an artist or designer should behave; a broader all encompassing world view; a set of responses to a specific issue, big or small, a set of declarations about what constitutes good (or bad) painting, good design etc
Style:
  • Consider the different ‘points of view’ that a manifesto can take: a personal declaration, a group manifesto, an objective text not tagged to any one person or group. 
  • Compose your manifesto as a short essay, a poem or series of declarations.
  • Use appropriate tone and mood in your language, e.g. is it persuasive and energised? Is it positive or negative in tone? Is it ironic or tongue in cheek?
There is no right or wrong to this. Your manifesto is your manifesto. We will not hold you to it. We will not check back in three years time to see if you lived up to it (though you might). Be wildly imaginative or just be honest.
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Have a look at some of these example manifestos: Three short manifestos by students
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Then there are these videos of other types of manifesto:
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    Here are some other well known manifestos by contemporary artists and designers: 

    • Gilbert and George's Art For All. Here
    • Marina Abramovich's The Life of an Artist. Here
    • Dieter Ram's Ten Principles of Good Design: Here
    • Bruce Mau's Manifesto for Growth from the Manifesto project: Here
    • You may like to purchase your own copy of Alex Danchev's 100 Artists' Manifestos - from the Futurists to the Stuckists. This is available as an e-book from Penguin.