Exquisite Corpse
Created by Jacob, Shiloh & Mary
Manifesto – “I Believe…”
Cut-Up Manifestos
Marizelle Steyn
Positioning Statements
- The world has become emotionless and unaffected by what we see. We have become a desensitized population. To sensitise is to expose and to expose is to desensitize.
- Everything has become an imitation, there is no longer originality. There is nothing we haven’t already seen or heard in one form or another. Original narratives can make just as much profit and gain just as good of an applause as remakes and adaptations.
- Representations aren’t as diverse as they are presented to be. Media is stuck in it’s portrayals of stereotypes and stigmas. More voices need to be given platforms and other cultures need to be telling their sides.
Summary
I really enjoyed and appreciated this manifesto assignment, especially with the poetic, preformative and dramatic stance that our group took with our ideas. I loved the layering and depth of our subject, with subjectivity being so heavily involved in the art and cinema world, and how we brought that into our video. Not only was each character expressing their own or sometimes conflicted opinions over a subject, but how the sound, visuals and editing all worked together in bringing our own individual tastes together to create a collage inspired aesthetic.
I really value understanding in my daily life, with so many perspectives and approaches to our world perception. I loved how the topic of different attitudes being used in the appreciation of cinema and art, had built into my understanding of audiences, the canon and how each chose to celebrate both art and film.
Jacob Agius
POSITIONING STATEMENTS
- If something feels true to you or it lingers within, then let it be so and take from it what you will.
- If we consider the films we love as works of art then they should be treated as such.
You may make lists,
You may argue,
SHOUT,
And disagree,
Laugh,
Cry,
And scream,
At the beauty of it all!
For cinema glimpses into the soul!!!!!
And because of these truths you must not rank them, one cannot objectively be better than another,
One can only be more subjectively appealing to one another. - THE NEW CINEPHILES OF OUR GENERATION DO NOT NEED TO ADHERE TO THESE CANONICAL LISTS. WE HAVE CREATED A NEW WAY TO CONSUME CINEMA ONE THAT WAS NOT SOLELY BY OUR DOING BUT ONE THAT WE HAVE STRIVED TO ADAPT AND USE TO OUR ADVANTAGE! IF THE OLD CANONS, CRITICS AND FILMMAKERS CANNOT ADAPT TO THIS NEW WAY TOWARDS A BRAND NEW CINEMA WHICH SHINES BRIGHT IN THE DARKEST OF NIGHTS, WHICH STRIVES TO TELL STORIES FROM A PLACE THAT IS TRUE, TO BE RID OF FILMS TOUTING FAKE AND INSIDIOUS STANDARDS AND IDEALS, OR THEY SHALL FACE THE BRUNT OF US NEW CINEPHILES WHO WILL SURELY AND PRECISELY PICK THEM APART FOR ALL TO SEE, LIKE REMNANTS OF A VULTURES FEAST. IF THE OLD CANONS, CRITICS AND FILMMAKERS CANNOT ADAPT THEY SHALL WILT AND DIE AND IN THEIR FINAL THROES WE SHALL TURN OUR BACKS ON THEIR CALLS AND I AM MORE THAN HAPPY TO STAND BY AND LISTEN!
SUMMARY
I feel like I’ve learnt so much about film, the cinema canon and manifesto’s from this assignment and studio! A lot of the work I’ve done in this studio has been heavily influenced by the idea that subjective opinions should be valued overall when approaching films, the cinema canon and manifesto’s. I’ve also been very interested in the idea of a manifesto being an exercise in conceptual and performance art, so for my manifesto work I tried to play with that through my writing, my manifesto format and my group project. My group and I have managed to bring these two major influences together in our manifesto by utilising collage techniques to compile subjective statements and images to create a whole new work that celebrates subjectivity.
Shiloh Cavallin
POSITIONING STATEMENTS
ONE
Art is not limited.
Art is a representation of – rot, pain, effort, disturbia, death, life, deranged emotion
It lies behind what we see.
Its our perception of – beauty
Our perception of – feeling
Perception of – experience
Of Life
TWO
DO NOT follow the canon.
DO NOT follow its interests.
DO NOT follow its guidelines.
DO NOT follow its criteria.
YOU say what is a canon.
YOU say what is an interest.
YOU say what is a guideline.
YOU say what is a criteria.
The canon doesn’t exist for you,
as you don’t exist for it.
It exists for historical purpose,
as you exist for yours.
It exists for values,
as you exist for yours.
It exists for beauty,
as you exist for yours.
THREE
I will not be told what is great.
But I will accept.
I accept it upholds a reason.
I accept it upholds a purpose.
I accept it upholds a perspective.
I accept it upholds a history.
But I will not accept.
I will not accept its limitations.
I will not accept its criteria.
I will not accept its judgemental’s.
I will not accept its prevailing outcome.
I will be told its reasoning for being great.
SUMMARY
‘I Believe’, is a manifesto that contests the canon for what it is, by providing an insight to a number of different individuals ideologies and belief systems, whilst taking an experimental approach. Providing an insight into a number of different audience members, the collaboration of our contesting manifestos and an archive of footage provides a further emphasis that art is creation of our own. The creation of our short film, was one that was challenging yet allowed us to learn a new way to express ourselves in a different form.