Manifesto Idea for Life
Dada taught us that everything was art. So we took everything and we made it art.
We hung it in galleries and put it on pedastals. A urinal, a tire on a goat.
We took the most basic sensations. Colour. Sound. Shapes. And we made those art.
Art became an expression of movement. Of everything. Everything was art.
But people didn't get the idea. Sure everything can be art, but to them not everything
was art. They still didn't get the idea. It's been over fifty years since dada. It's
coming back to teach us what we missed the first time. Well, sort of. I don't know.
It's time for an art movement. We've been sensing this. Mark Davis agrees. Jeremy
P. Bushnell agrees. Cathy Heard agrees. Lots of people are beginning to agree.
But we haven't been able to come up with one. Jeremy says dada is coming back. So we
believe him. Roger said he's been reading similar things. But Mark doesn't want
to rehash the old art movement. Neither does Cathy. I think Jeremy and I are kind
of impartial to the idea. But they are probably right. We don't need to have dada
all over again to learn what they learned. If we want to do that we can just study
the past. So it's time for a new art movement. But what?
Where is there to go from here? Everything is art. We know that. We learned that
last time. But people, everyday people, didn't get the idea. And neither did
artists. Well, something like that. Correection: Dada determined that everything
could be art, but not that it was necessarily. We know that everything is art. Now
we have to express that.
No everything is not art. Everything is beautiful and art is a reflection of what is
beautiful. That's what it's all about. The beauty of this life and living it.
Everything is beautiful if you look at it right. The point of art is to get people
to look at things the right way so they can see everything as beautiful. That is
what we must do. Manifesto time.
We will be creating. Creating an art. A beauty. We must make the everyday holy.
The normal sacred. Poems about everyday experience. Films which don't have a plot,
they just show a slice of life. Reality at its best. We must show people how
reality is the most beautiful thing there is in this universe. Life Is Sweet. Like
that film. No plot.
Just change. After all change is what the entire universe is about anyway. Songs
which praise going to the bathroom. Or lying asleep on a bed in the morning. The
really truly beautiful things in life. A dark alley at night. We must get people
to notice everything about them. They must be able to experience everything in life
to its complete fullest. We must show people that from everything pleasure can
be derived. And we must derive that pleasure ourselves.
But we must keep this art out of the galleries. It cannot become untouchable to
the common man. We want to touch the common man. The common man does not enter
the gallery. We must present our art in public where people can see and experience it.
The art movement of the mass media. Where everyone can see and experience everything.
Where a colour may produce ecstasy. Descriptions next to places on how to fully
experience that place. The piano in the union with the fern next to it and the
painting over it. Wood on the walls and a pianist at the piano. This is true
beauty. This is life. A sign next to it asking people to take a moment and sit
there and experience that spot. Vistas. We must make everything photo oppotunities.
This is the new movement. Or something. A proposal. We need a new movement. This could
be it. Who knows? Time to let Cathy or Jeremy or someone else read this. Now is
the time. It is time for us to change the world. And experience it. We have been
so concerned with death, our group, going to graveyards and reading and writing
such dark stuff. Now we must live. But keep the gothic. Let's do it.