Manifestos

Create your own manifesto.

Step 1.

Watch the movie, Manifesto on Kanopy.
To access: Go to the BMCC library webpage (upper right bar on the first page when entering bmcc.edu). Then click on Databases (complete list of databases) and go to the letter K to search for Kanopy. You will be asked to type your BMCC address and password, to get access. Once in Kanopy, search for the movie Manifesto (produced by FilmRise), which is acted by Cate Blanchett. It is 95 minutes long.

As you watch: Notice the tone of the manifestos that are quoted in this movie. The language employed, the spirit of them. Why were manifestos made, why are they still being made? What are they about?

Side notes:

Please note that this was shown originally as a 13-screen installation; you will be watching the single-channel (just one screen) version of it. That already changes radically the experience of the piece, from large scale video-installation with coordinated sound that allows you to move in the space from group to groups, see through to others, etc., to see-at-home-movie that moves in a linear manner. This is a link to how it looked when shown at the Park Armory, in NYC, 2016:

https://www.armoryonpark.org/photo_gallery/slideshow/manifesto

For the titles/authors of the specific manifestos quoted in the movie:

http://proa.org/eng/exhibicion-proa-manifesto-de-julian-rosenfeldt-obras.php

For more information on the movie and manifestos:

http://www.proa.org/eng/exhibicion-proa-manifesto-de-julian-rosenfeldt-textos.php

2. In the discussion board (This is a graded assignment. 5% final grade)
a. Write your own manifesto.
You determine what it is about, what it will say. The idea is that it must look like an art manifesto (reflect its spirit), but the content is yours.

b. In a paragraph, explain how your piece is a manifesto, what it shares with the examples of the movie. Use your own words here, not quotes about manifestos. The paragraph should have at least complete six sentences (max. 500 words).

Rubric:

You will be evaluated based on:

1.How your manifesto can be read as a manifesto (and not a poem or a random list of things to do), i.e. how well it captures the spirit of what manifestos are.

2.Your paragraph explaining in your own words why your piece is a manifesto, what it shares with the examples quoted in the movie.