DARC Manifesto

This ‘manifesto’ document traces of an ongoing conversation about the purpose and commitments of DARC, by DARC members. It reflects a collective and dynamic approach to generating ideas, and as the conversation develops, the document will change. This iteration was compiled by Johanna Linsley, with contributions from Holly Revell, Manuel Vason, Ana de Matos, Pato Bosich and Emma Møller.

v.001

–> what is your agenda –> what is your specialty –> what are our filters <–

we are INSIDERS we CARE we UNDERSTAND performance we have a CONNECTION with you already we KNOW you you KNOW us we are part of the COMMUNITY you TRUST us our documentation is an ART form we have a THEORY (even if we’re unsure what that is at present!) this isn’t just WORK

it’s an EXCHANGE…

I’m a bit stuck on filters to be honest!

–> what is your agenda –> what is your specialty –> what are our filters <–

I consider my practice as a life-long commitment to explore the correspondence between Photography and Performance Art.

I believe in the Photograph as an alternative space to the Gallery or the Theatre, a conceptual territory, a place where contradiction, ambiguity and paradox are not only tolerated but encouraged.

–> what are your histories –> how did this happen –> who is it for –> what are the spaces you return to –> what are the spaces you wish you could have seen <–

Behind the lens – there is an improvised dance taking place.

Like an octopus dancing, where the tentacles react and play with the layers around them, which come in the shape of: artists, audience, location, form, documentation, duration, content.

Maybe we should discuss this point all together.

–> is there a conversation happening –> is there a community we can describe –> can you hear it –> does it make sense <–

DARC is a collective of Artists documenting Artists rather than just a “professional” collective of a pretty specific service (documenting live art).

The documenting artist will accept the inescapable fact that he will distort or respond or reinvent what he experiences but that the way in which this process happens will not be conditioned by any extraneous principle outside the artist-to-artist-fed dialectic

Documenting means constructing

–> what do we endorse –> what does our endorsement count for –> can we help –> what does our help count for <–

I found myself through the gaze of the others, I found my voice through dialogues, I found my artistic practice through collaboration.

I want my behavior to be ruled by my fake desires, I want to live my present in the pose, I want to share my illusions and scream my confusion!

–> what do we own –> what say do we have –> what do we need <–

I agree that we should discuss this in person.