THE ART WHORE MANIFESTO
Part one
By Ronja Brainstorm
Intro:
Welcome to the next era. My name is Ronja Brainstorm a.k.a. The O.G. Art Whore. I introduce to you, potential ally of The Art Whore Movement, my artistic vision. The Art Whore is not interested in being safe. She is here to create. To take action. To refuse passivity and anonymity. She is here to change the direction that the art scene is taking: Everything ruled by identity politics and political correctness. The Art Whore calls for disruption and unapologetic, artistic investigation. She does not fear the consequences. Nor does she fear rejection. She creates because her life depends on it. Cause art is the only true freedom, the only real rebellion. If you believe in the power of art to set you free, to speak your own truth, to challenge and to disrupt, then you are ready to become an Art Whore. The Art Whore Movement is open to all who understand that real art comes from our deepest, darkest chambers, from the risk of vulnerability, from the willingness to upset and to be upset. To shamelessly throw yourself into life for the purpose of finding a subject that actually matters to you, liberated from the chains of shame.
1. Art is the ultimate place of liberation.
The purpose of The Art Whore Movement is to liberate art from the oppressing chains of shame, fear, and conformity that limits us in these suffocating times. Art must stay an open space full of endless possibilities, driven by true artists who are uncompromisingly willing to throw themselves into life. This is what the Art Whore does. She dives deep into the realm of human existence in order to search for material for the ongoing artwork that is her own life.
2. The more vulnerable you dare to make yourself through your art, the more powerful it will be.
Intimacy is the crucial force in art. The Art Whore insists on exposing her honest, conflicted self in the most intimate and visceral way possible. Unapologetically so. She feeds off of her own misery and her own love. It is in this rawness that true human connection emerges.
3. Art as a function.
Shame is the enemy, liberation is the goal. The Art Whore rejects shame as a weapon of social control. She sees shame as a barrier that inhibits us from speaking our minds freely and create without restrictions. It takes a lot to make The Art Whore feel ashamed. But making dishonest art, safe art, pseudo art would be the very reason for The Art Whore to feel ashamed of herself. Because The Art Whore does not want to make art to please. She makes it to challenge and to investigate. To push and disrupt boundaries. To create a counter movement to the dull and tedious safe space culture we’ve ended up passively embracing. The Art Whore refuses to make PLEASER ART that sits on the walls or pedestals of the so-called galleries (a.k.a. showrooms) with no other purpose, but to sustain the art as a commodity, and confirm people in their moral constitutions. The Art Whore urges all politically correct pleaser artists to step aside. Make space for the unsafe!
4. The Unsafe House: Embodying chaos in the name of creation
The Art Whore hereby declare her admiration for The Unsafe House. The Amsterdam-based artist collective has been her profound artistic inspiration since they emerged from darkness and love four years ago. From afar, they already twisted The Art Whore’s brain. Up close, they cracked it wide open. After a journey powered by true passion, The Art Whore found her way to meet these brilliant minds. And she is now honoured to be able to call The Unsafe House not only meaningful inspiration to her work, but also serious allies of her mission. The Unsafe House not only represents, but embodies everything The Art Whore perceives as crucial for art to survive and thrive. Through getting to know the artist collective from the inside, she has understood that the “unsafe” of The Unsafe House, not only is a strong brand, it is a bullet proof frame around a very specific artistic vision that resonates with The Art Whore’s own: That in order to be able to create, act, speak and live freely, we have to accept the fact that no-one and nothing is certain and everything is therefor possible within the context of art. The Unsafe House’s work and life, as for The Art Whore’s own, is born out of a genuine love and care for art. And this being the idea of art as a wonderful, colourful, multidimensional madhouse where everyone is welcome, and where we can find common ground in our artistic visions. And thus art is for the brave, the courageous, the outrageous, the daring, the bold, the mad, the beautiful, the brilliant, the ugly, the loving, the insane. The Unsafe House has confirmed The Art Whore in the idea that protection indeed does not mean exclusion. It means embracing. Embracing differences of opinion. Embracing darkness. Embracing the “problematic”. Embracing chaos. Embracing fear and transforming it into creation. All in the name of art. Cause to be unsafe is to be alive. And it is in that very aliveness the magic happens.
5. Art is not defined by political correctness or moral justifiability.
The Art Whore rejects the dominance of both the conservative and the woke political discourses in the art world. Art is NOT here to follow trends, cater to political agendas, or serve algorithms. It is here to be the punk playground of endless possibilities of meaning and beauty. A place of deliberate irrationality! The beach party of the paradoxes! Political agendas are strangling true exploration and innovation, and have become the cockblockers of art! The Art Whore rejects this insidious force and demand that art be art, unfiltered, unafraid, and unapologetic. Politically fucking incorrect.
6. Make art art again.
The Art Whore refuses to fear discomfort or embarrassment. She is not afraid of making a fool of herself, if it is for the purpose of creation, which everything is in the life of The Art Whore. She insists on the privilege of sacrificing her own privacy. For the Art Whore, it’s all about the plot. She believes that a boring “safe space”- life leads to a mediocre artistic vision, which results in the horror of even more irrelevant artworks.
7. The Art Whore’s feminism.
True emancipation comes from setting your own boundaries, and uncompromisingly so. To define your own isms. In a life full of forces that challenge you to create your own frame, you have to dare yourself to confront those forces. Some of the Art Whore’s most devoted allies are male individuals who pushes the boundaries of what is considered to be normal social conduct. The Art Whore chooses to embrace both their destructiveness and their talents, because she refuses to impoverish her life by excluding them from it. This is how The Art Whore chooses to live her life, to create her art. By exploring challenging interpersonal relationships and collaborations, The Art Whore’s powers only grow stronger. Because in her relationship with the other, the different, the disruptive, she must constantly define who she is and what she stands for. And that is indeed empowering. It’s proactive productivity. It’s not self-harm. It’s a feminist act. Because true feminism is a fight for freedom rather than victimhood. The Art Whore refuses to be a victim of anything or anyone. She is free. Free from shame, free from fear. BECAUSE SHE DECIDES TO BE. In the words of Tarik Sadouma (co-founder and member of The Unsafe House): “You (The Art Whore) are not a slave to your own impulses”. Cause The Art Whore is capable of reflecting her emotions and take responsibility for them, instead of making others responsible for them. The Art Whore knows that she is free to leave, free to speak and free to act. And so she does. All in the name of art.
8. A counter-cultural rooftop.
The Art Whore knows that the boundaries of art, like the boundaries of life, must be continuously tested. If we stay locked inside our safe, comfortable, cotton-wrapped-herbal-tea-leg-warmer-knitting-echo chambers, we will never grow. And we will ultimately lose the wonderful, counter-cultural rooftop that is the arts. If you want a backdoor to reality, join The Art Whore Movement. The Art Whore Movement welcomes people in all shapes and sizes.
9. The Art Whore’s own life is the artwork itself.
Every encounter, every experience, every moment of existence is possible material for The Art Whore. To be an Art Whore is to live your life as art, without any compromise. She embraces the messy, the chaotic, the uncomfortable. She is not afraid of using her own personal experiences, her own struggles, her own pain and misery as fuel to her artistic vision. There is no boundary between the private and the personal, between the real and the artificial, in the life and work of The Art Whore. If others cannot handle it, they are free to leave. But she will not compromise. Not for them. Not for anyone. Everything for the art! ALL FOR THE ART!
10. The Art Whore is the future of art.
The Art Whore is so over the stale, the safe, the comfortable. The mediocre. The decorative. The pleasing. The cautious. The woke. The conservative. The generic. The self-righteous entitlement to pass judgment on others. The moral tyranny. The cancel culture. The out-calling game. The shame culture. The existence of the word “problematic”. Trigger warnings. Public FLINTA* spaces. Violation -and offence readiness. Moral entitlement and self-righteousness. The sheep mentality. The hypocrisy. The anonymous profiling. The hypersensitivity. The list is long. Cause these are all oppressive forces to the artist’s freedom of investigation. The Art Whore rejects all of these notions, because art is not about playing it safe and manifesting only one kind of truth. Art is about finding the edge, then throwing yourself directly into the abyss of freedom. Down there, you’ll find what you need in order to create something truly beautiful and meaningful. The Art Whore Movement is a protest against the lifeless, the predictable, the dull and the conventional. It is here to bring art back to life. To push it to its limits. To make it something that stirs, that challenges, that shocks, that excites. SOMETHING THAT FUCKING MOVES.
Outro: The Unsafe Event.
The Art Whore Movement is for the daring, the bold, the unafraid. This will all be manifested in a very special event that will take place at The Academy of Fine Arts in Leipzig, home base for The Art Whore and epicentre of political correctness and mediocre art. Together with The Unsafe House, The Art Whore will create an exhibition based on their mutual artistic visions. The Art Whore has also invited other artists to take part, allies from near and far. Artists she has chosen based on their ideas, NOT based on their identities, political opinions, or market value. Together The Art Whore and her allies will create The Unsafe Event: A celebration of true art, an exhibition far outside of the norm. It will be an exhibition so deep, dark, and twisted that no one will be certain what is what and who is who anymore. At the Unsafe Event, no one will know what will happen next. Cause art must be unpredictable, dangerous, and free from the numbing constraints of comfort. At The Unsafe Event, we will create something that excites and challenges, something that is alive, kicking and screaming. Something that pushes the very limits of what art can be. And you can be a part of this revolution if you are ready to face the unknown, to be part of the future of art. In other words: if you are an Art Whore.
Watch Ronja Brainstorm read her work
Find out more about The Unsafe House
Read more of Ronja’s prose right here on Felten INK
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