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Subject: Creative Commons-Eyebeam Forum 2003 November 12-19

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  • From: dmytrik AT trick.ca
  • To: cc-eyebeam AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [cc-eyebeam] Intellectual Property Is Fraud
  • Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2003 08:54:10 -0500 (EST)


Incidentalist Manifestos

Incidentalism is not a style of art, but rather an attitude towards the
practice of art. Incidentalists are artists of any style, practice or medium
who apply incidentalism in their work.

Articulating The New

The artist is a worker of boundries. To articulate is to express by
manipulating boundries, boundries in sounds and shapes, boundaries in beliefs
and behaviour. Whether for a page, canvas, stage or a moment of pregnant
silence, it is the task of the artist to express that which has never been.
It is through this articulation, this boundary work, that new ideas, new
knowledge and new techniques first emerge.

WHEREAS, it is the artist who is the bringer of the new,

SO THEREFORE incidentalism is a strategy for provoking new expressions.

Beyond Preconception

The new cannot be achieved with skill or knowledge, both of which are rooted
in the past, and are artifacts of the old. You cannot find the new by way of
that which you have already conceived. If the outcome of an incident can be
imagined, any enlightenment has already been perceived in the imagining; only
the un-planned can reveal the un-preconcieved. Incidentalism seeks to
introduce uncontrollable or unpredictable factors into the incident of art.

WHEREAS incidentalism strives to express the new,

SO THEREFORE it is not our purpose to use art as a tool to demonstrate our
own skill or knowledge, but rather to use art as an apparatus to incite
expressions that are beyond our own preconceptions.

Art and Residue

Art is not an object, art happens. Art happens when the actions of artists
bring expressions into a state where they can be perceived. All objects that
result from an incident are merely the residue of the incident, not the art
itself.

WHEREAS residue incites further incidents which produce more residue,

SO THEREFORE an incident never truly ends; in fact all incidents change the
world.

On Originality

All words, colours, shapes, movements, sounds and all other forms of
expressions belong to all that have perceived them or wish to express them.
All expressions are extensions of previous perceptions. Even if an expression
is intentinally duplicated, it will always be affected and changed by the new
incident of expression. Even if an expression is purposefully unique, the
artifacts of the incident and previous perceptions will always be present.
While no expression can ever be exactly repeated, neither can any expression
be completely new.

WHEREAS, all expressions are both original and derivative,

SO THEREFORE any attempt to claim ideas, knowledge or techniques as property
is fraud.

Freedom of Resonance

Ideas, knowledge and techniques are the fuel of progress. Limits on
expression are enforced by vested interests in order to retain power. The new
is a threat to the power of the status quo. Since the freedom of expressions
to resonate is of critical importance, incidentalism will strive to reclaim
any expression stolen from the public wealth, and give resonance to
expressions suppressed by censors or otherwise excluded from public dialogue.

WHEREAS, expressions belong to all,

SO THEREFORE all things that restrict expression are tools of oppression.

Terms

Incident: The moment when art happens.

Incidentalist: An artist who practices incidentalism.

Coincidentalists: Anybody present or involved with an incident, including the
other incidentalists. Coincidentalists are not necessarily Incidentalists or
share the Incidentalists motives or beliefs. Incidentalist art has no
audience, only coincidentalists.

Accidentalist: An accidentalist, also called a Rubist, is one who incites
incidents with powerful and insightful resonance without any intention at all
to do such. The work of the Accidentalist has the greatest potency because it
is entirely unpreconcieved and therefore limitless in its potential to incite
new and enlightening expressions.

Conventionist: Conventionists admire convention and feel important because of
their relationship with, or knowledge of conventions, and usually these
conventions are widely propagated by vested interests. They like conventional
ideas and convention-like activities where people gather, frequently in a
convention center, to worship conventions. They concern themselves with inane
categorizations and judge value based on the fraud of authenticity. To a
conventionist a thing has more value because it more closely replicates or
mimics another thing, or is more similar to an idea or type that is
well-defined, and is supposedly more authentic or genuine. They admire the
well-planned and do not want the unpreconcieved to affect them.

Doctrines

Incidentalist Inferiority Doctrine: One cannot try to be an Accidentalist --
one either is or isn't one, and even that is not a state of being but rather
a role in a particular incident. The Incidentalists accept that their work
will always be secondary to the work of the Accidentalist. The Incidentalists
accept that they must be merely artists; the Incidentalists admires and tries
to learn from the Rubist, but does not try to be or become a Rubist, as that
would be futile and the results predictable.

Failure Is Success Doctrine: An incidentalist does not rejoice when a test is
passed with ease, but rather is disappointed because clearly the test has
been too easy. If a goal is accomplished too readily, then the goal is deemed
to have been set too low. If a plan goes off without a hitch, then the plan
has lacked ambition. The Incidentalists are always reaching beyond their
grasp, as nothing within their grasp will incite the new. Any plan of action
with an easily predictable outcome is not worth doing.

Manifesto as Conventionism Doctrine: By virtue of defining conventions, these
Manifestos themselves contain the seeds of conventionism; they are at best a
point of departure for the practicing incidentalist and not of great value.
These Manifestos are intended for those who are curious about incidentalism,
be they admiring conventionists or emerging incidentalists. These Manifestos
are not in any way complete, conclusive or binding and are subject to change
without notice.



  • [cc-eyebeam] Intellectual Property Is Fraud, dmytrik, 11/13/2003

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