Manifesto 1
Composed June 17, 2008
Art is too big to see and too small to comprehend. I make art to create worlds within worlds, giving access to the unseen psychological realities that we inhabit and the interdependence that is the fabric of being. I make art to enrich society through reflection by giving shared form to individual experience and individual form to shared experience. I make art to expose and question structure, connections and fabrication. I make art to loosen the senses. I am on a quest to undermine stagnation, abuse, perceived stability and “the ego.” I strive not to strive, avoiding where I am; I strive to be engaged in the moment. I publicly explore my and others’ neurosis, innocence, perceptions and potentialities through working with “other.” I look backwards, forwards, up, down in and out to study the human condition nested interdependently in the ecology of the planet. I work with immeasureables, unquantifiables. I invent words. I experiment.
                                           I     am   on   a   quest    for    authenticity.

Manifesto 2: I am for an able-art
(Inspired by the form of Claes Oldenburg ‘Statement’ 1962)
Composed June 23, 2008
I am for an art that is…..
open-able-close-able-soci-able- whimsic-able-politic-able-compos-able-recycl-able-understand-able-land-able-float-able- edib-able-simpl-able-complic-able-flexib-able-sandwich-able-fabrica-able-slam-able-clam-able-flam-able-ram-able-cram-able-frame-able-unit-able-beautif-able.

Manifesto 3: I am for AN ART.....
(Inspired by ‘Statement’ 1962, Claes Oldenburg)
Composed June 24, 2008
I am for an art that is ripened in the sun and germinates when it rains. I am for an art that knows wind in its branches and soil between its toes, an art that rises with spring run-off and shrinks with evaporative summer heat. I am for an art that needs sunshine to prevent vitamin D deficiency, exercise to prevent atrophy and company to avoid depression.

I am for an art that tells stories from memory and plants fertile gaps in understanding.

I am for an art that melts on the sidewalk and sticks to the soles of careless shoes, that follows and strays and pops up unexpectedly.

I am for an art that pretends to runaway, but doesn’t know why; for an art that returns and doesn’t need to explain.

I am for an art that builds tree forts and cooks with all ingredients; for an art that thinks through the processes of food alchemy.

I am for an art that undulates with the tides and is affected by the pull of the moon.

I am for an art that takes long hikes alone in the mountains, rides a mountain bike and finds its way on topographical maps.

I am for an art that can be eaten by kangaroo rats and stolen by chickadees.
I am for an art that can be perceived by all six senses.
I am for an art that is macro and microcosmic.

I am for an art that likes camping, sleeps under bridges and occasionally enjoys a five star hotel. I am for an art that speaks many languages, plays with translation, and knows but ignores its limitations. I am for an art that inhabits territories on the edge, presses against boundaries and crosses borders.

I am for an art that makes up words and explores imagined territories. I am for an art that lives in conversation and takes dream bubble baths.

I am for an art that takes form through exchange.

I am for an art that is impermanent, and knows old age, sickness and death.

I am for an art that takes core samples of “truth”, examines authenticity with a microscope and forgets to write down the results. I am for an art that takes questions for a walk and asks non-human beings for answers.

I am for an art that is unafraid of failure.

I am for art that lives in silence, but knows when to yell. I am for art that springs up with a smile to a stranger. I am for art that is good enough to exist at any moment.

I am for an art that re-visions history, identifies, opens, resists and promotes. I am for an art that holds up mirrors. I am for an art that has sharp teeth and claws and is said to have a “bite louder than its bark.”

I am for the art of “skillful means” and “beginners mind.”

I am for an art that reveals the connection between a june bug and your uncle.
I am for an art that draws thoughts and maps ideas.
I am for an art that finds loss and loses found.
I am for an art that rides radio waves and takes refuge in eardrums.
I am for an art that produces sawdust and smells like a woodshop.
I am for an art that hits pressure points and licks wounds.
I am for an art that strives not to strive.
I am for an art that grows stronger under pressure.

I am for art that creates and follows narritories. I am for art that slips and shatters when no one is looking. I am for art that drinks tea and eats wild food, knows the properties of herbs and harvests acorns in the fall.

I am for an art that changes color with the season, and knows how to deal with flood and drought. I am for art that is quick and ambitious, but knows how to eat humble pie at your grandmother’s table.

I am for an art that excavates thoughts and puts them haphazardly on universal shelves. I am for an art that catalogues thoughts with made-up systems that take a lifetime to learn.