My (Written) Manifesto
I believe in caring deeply for other people. Caring for others and desiring to empathize with them creates an atmosphere wherein we can grow and deepen our human experience. Meaningful relationships bring meaning to life.
Balance is essential. Maybe not to be in balance but to be aware of balance is what’s most important. There are balances and dichotomies in ourselves and everyone else but there is beauty and knowledge to be gained in the pursuit of balance. No scale may ever be level or seem level enough. But to be conscious of the two sides in everything seems pretty foul-proof.
One book that I read as a 13 year old that seems like it has been written just for me is A Room With a View. There is one specific line from that book that has stuck with me greater than any other text and it is, “At the end of the everlasting why there is a yes and a yes and a yes.” When we are confounded by the complexities of our lives, rather than let it hinder us we ought to treat it as an affirmation not a block. When you love someone you do not measure their limbs and the length of their hair to canonize them in pursuit of why, you just love them. That is not to say asking why is pointless it is more so to say, let the why call you to be, to exist and behave rather than to measure and act. In my work and in my life as they are irrevocably linked, the most important thing to keep in mind is that at the end of why there is a yes; a dichotomy and a perfect pair to not canonize but to love one another.
Tee Shirt
For my tee shirt I wanted to illustrate the balances/dualities that exist as flowing/organic entities within me in the foreground and within the world in the background
I hand-painted the the with yellow lines to start and then printed on top with blocks I had carved. I chose the colors red, yellow and blue because they are universal and strong. They are the primary colors after all.
I did other iterations of that tee shirt and started working with other materials, like athletic war and spray paint, but nothing seemed authentic to who I am in the present moment or who I sort of always am.
After making the shirt I have to say, I am not content with it, perhaps because I am not content with myself right now. But I do think it is truthful. Maybe that is more important than being content in this case, maybe.
Token.
I wanted to make tokens almost like mini cards. I have a huge assortment of post cards myself I have collected and I think having a little card with even a short message from someone and imagery which goes with that message is a powerful little thing. I wrote, “why? yes.” on the back to give the most important bit of my manifesto to each person. Maybe having that pair there as a reminder might catalyze some kind of thought or some kind of comfort for my peers.
Reflection
This was probably the project I struggled with most so far this semester. Typically I can get over any kind of blockage early on in the developmental stages of a project but here I was really struggling. I think it was because as I have reiterated many times, I am not quite sure who I am in full or where I am going and why. True, there are some things about me that do not change, I love to love, I want to help, I question and grow. But what’s more? Where’s more? How do I articulate confusion and can that be just as legitimate a part of my manifesto as any other? I look forward to looking back at this me and seeing exactly who I was and having the words for it later.
Reflection on Critique:
I received a lot of positive feedback on my manifesto and its components. The fact that it resonated with others after seeing my shirt and hearing my abbreviation of my manifesto was comforting because I had struggled with it.
I do wish someone told me what to do next. I personally find it hard to give that type of feedback but I wish I could hear what I couldn’t tell myself from my peers. I feel that a lot in critiques. In addition to getting a positive reaction – which is always great – I want to be pushed or questioned.