I believe that art should be created, first and foremost, for the purpose of enjoyment. If the artist is not enthusiastic about, inspired by and invested in what they are creating, be it painting a portrait, playing music or writing a book, then there is no point in creating it. Art is a reflection of the soul and this cannot come across if excitement does not go into the art. 

It is of course difficult in practice to achieve this aim with the capitalist society we live in. All of our actions are valued in terms of how much money they are worth and our free time is thus deemed worthless. Despite our world being constructed from the arts, those working in the arts are constantly thrown under the bus and made to choose that which will bring in more money over what they actually enjoy. Books, films and plays goes through filtering in industries to make them palatable to a widespread audience. 

However, if our art is to be shown with an audience, we must also create work that will engage our audiences. No two audience members will have the exact same taste and we cannot know we will like a play or book until we have seen or read it. Yet as much as possible we should aim to seek that art that is to our taste rather than that which we think will make us look more intellectual. We can try to admire the classical novels and understand why they are classics, but if we are not able to receive pleasure from reading them then why continue? 

I want art that is hopeful, that has an audience constantly engaged, throughout the consumption of that piece of art and sticking with them after it. And because art is entertainment, I believe it should bring them joy to consume. This is not to say every story should be happy throughout and that the characters should not face any hardships. But the real world is such a horrible place that sometimes we do need some a happy ending or at least one that shows a glimmer of hope. We should not come out of reading books or watching plays utterly miserable. Nor should we forget it the second it is over. A good piece of art inspires. 

 

Author’s Note: This manifesto takes into account the current world situation. People have been turning more to their hobbies and in terms of media, consuming that which gives them comfort. People are watching feel-good television series or reading their favourite books from childhood. Once more, I do not propose art as escapism from our bleak reality. Indeed, the best art is able to take place in another world while providing us with a way of seeing our own world. However, when all we see in our world is bleak, art can provide a new positive spin on the way we see things. Art can show us the fundamental kindness of most humans or perhaps show us other situations where people like us have persevered. 

the incomplete completeness

The S.A.F.E.R. Story

Tiara Party 

at the other side of this

Alone for 24 hours doing something for nobody

Who Cares?

The Exchange

I Want Never Gets

Speak About Love

The Brief

Human Volcanoes

Emerge Anew

the life and times of spatula man

EndLessNess 

Growing Up

Fuck Normal

WOWWWW

Cocktail Time

He arrives as seafoam

Saltspray and wave cascade

To fold rock into his embrace

He closes his eyes in gentle caress

Hums, sighs his way to shore

Sodden, he staggers but does not fall

And casts his gaze up to the skies

The sun burns bright, coursing through his vision

Vaporising through the cracks of his salt-ridden skin

Skin which has become malleable

Dull flesh that moves with ease

He is not dripping with water but melting from flame

The sun is not the sun at all but rather

Fire

Burning happily at the end of the wick which protrudes from his crown

He interlaces his eyelids and closes his fingers

Arms raise briefly, before falling leisurely

A defeated gesture of surrender

The waxy heap is waned to the tide

And returns to her grasp

And the story should be set in Venice because there is no other city so romantic, so unique. Part of my family is actually from Venice. Living there must be incredibly inconvenient because there are no cars and the streets are very narrow and there are tourists everywhere and everything is expensive and you’re not allowed to sit down in the main square and it is easy to get lost on the public transport boat system. But a few days spent there on holiday are lovely. You get to experience both the presence and this sense of history in one. You see the masks in every window and the beautiful ice cream on every street and the water stretching out for miles. It is like being in a fantasy realm. 

Venice. A sword. The beginning to a beautiful, evocative story, opening a gateway to the imagination. Except the concept is too fantastical to write as a story in five minutes. All I know is that a beautiful sword washes up on a shore in Venice. I do not know which Venice, whether this is a Venice from centuries ago or modern Venice. Perhaps this sword is magical and the person who finds it gets transformed into a mighty warrior. Or perhaps it is just an old sword. I have heard that Venice sinks further into the lagoon every year. I don’t know if that’s true but I know there must be so many relics in the lagoon if this city has been standing on it for centuries. 

Maybe one day there will be a story beyond the sword landing on a shore in Venice. Maybe inspiration will hit me tonight at 1am when I am trying to sleep and I will write the story and it will become a bestseller. But for now, all I have is an aesthetic.

Enjoy this moodboard I made for the story:

Things I think I can improve on/Questions I have moving forward:

I had a hand at creating a logo for the piece as well (see the thumbnail of the YouTube video) which I am actually very pleased with.

If you made it through this and have about an hour to spare, or even want to just skim through or look at a specific 5 minutes, please do! It has given me a LOT of confidence in this idea!