charity be

A Manifesto

I propose art that…

Breathes.

Is not an ism.

Reaches for the experience rather than the souvenir.

Is as much for or of the body as for the intellect.

Embraces and offers a slower rhythm, never too fast to be fully savored.

Renders visible the invisible and covert.

Does not exclusively favor visual art.

Invites sounds to be seen, scents to be heard, images to be felt, and sensations to be tasted.

Is an attitude rather than a defined style or prescribed set of materials.

Celebrates and cultivates diversity.

Acknowledges I-Thou-We rather than I-It-They.

Does not favor a gender, an ethnicity, or one bioregion.

Supports all textures and colors of cultural identity.

Builds community and shared experiences.

Defends and and makes use of shared public spaces.

Embraces subjectivity with full acknowledgement of its subjectiveness – and reaches towards a universality that connects our subjective, diverse experiences.

Facilitates change.

Favors organic over plastic.

Is for a geographically changing world and lifestyle.

Can be shared in a public space and is made on site or can composted or live in the cloud or transport easily to set up anywhere (no carbon footprint).

Is willing to fail; willing to be vulnerable.

Is as comfortable in with silence and stillness, as in motion and with volume.

Is intelligent without taking itself too seriously and playful without losing the point.

Reaches to guide the future,  rather than to change or re-live the past.

Supports life in an embodied balance between infosphere and biosphere by any means necessary.

Leads the way toward building a world where cynicism is not, by default, the healthiest choice.

Is for the living, even though it may outlive all who are living at the time when it is created, including the artist.

— Charity Be, 2021