Manifesto Destiny

Went to one of my favorite contemporary art museums PS1, today to see the art of Vic Muniz (which, of course, is great), but there are a number of other really worth while shows there right now.

I really liked the idea of the Emergency Room (I am not going to explain this well so you can look at the daily blog for more information). Essentially, it is a group of artists creating new works each day of the exhibition based on the news of the day. Sort of turned out like a live action blog.

There was a performance today for the 'birthday' of Iraq's independence with cake and readings of the names of Iraqi citizens who have died durring out occupation and prayers for them, while a trumpet played happy birthday, sounds cheezy but it was actually effecting in the space. The room where the daily exhibitions/performances take place is round. I wish this was a permanent installation. I wish there was an Emergency Room franchise, where each neighborhood or town had a round room and everyday people could come in and make something together to respond to the world and it's events as they were experiencing it that particular day.

I also saw, the photos of Tom Sandberg, really really beautiful and there was a group show which included a number of big names but what was special about it is not the works of art in themselves but the explanations by the artists of why this particular work of art is not for sale.

But what really got me was a manifesto typewritten and posted on a wall in the Jonas Mekas exhibition.

In the times of bigness, spectaculars, one hundred million movie productions, I want to speak for the small, invisible acts of human spirit, so subtle, so small, that they die when brought out under the clean lights. I want to celebrate the small forms of cinema, the lyrical form, the poem, the watercolor, etude, sketch, portrait, arabesque, and bagatelle, and little 8mm songs. In the times when everybody wants to succeed and sell, I want to celebrate those who embrace social and daily tailor to pursue the invisible, the personal things that bring no money and no bread and make no contemporary history, art history or any other history. I am for art which we do for each other, as friends.

I am standing in the middle of the information highway and laughing, because a butterfly on a little flower somewhere in China just fluttered its wings, and I know that the entire history, culture will drastically change because of that fluttering. A super-8 millimeter camera just made a little soft buzz somewhere, somewhere on the lower east side of New York, and the world will never be the same.

The real history of cinema is invisible history. History of friends getting together, doing the thing they love.

Click to read the entire Anti-100 years of cinema manifesto by Jonas Mekas


I felt a little choked up when I read it in the gallery but was quickly distracted by watching the actual videos.
When I found it online this evening, I read it to my friend over the phone and wept, there is more context to it then that but I don't think i need to put any further explanation here as the writing speaks for itself.

Now go look at his films...
Jonas Mekas recently launched his own online video gallery with many of his films dating from the 60's to literally today, available for download (link).