Monday, July 20, 2009 - 01:23 PM
Manifesto
ARtist InSurgencE
This is a manifesto.
This is a manifesto for all artists in the skin trade, meticulously uniting art
and body, forever fusing skin and symbol.
This is a manifesto for those who have chosen to lead lives of less conventional
work and toil over flesh fissures, bartering blood for beauty.
This is a manifesto for Derma-graphic Illustrators everywhere and for those
hopeful of someday becoming one, joining the ranks of Skin Shamans, learning and
honing that ancient vocation found in all corners of the world.
This is a manifesto for a new breed of tattoo artist. This is a declaration for
those who are changing an industry riddled with disregard for the public and for
the producers of permanent pulchritude.
This is our call to arms. No longer will we, the colorful class of exploited
craftsmen and women, sit idly by and watch our work, wages, skill, and
creativity be controlled and compromised by particularly parsimonious
proprietors. Hungry heads of state beware.
Long gone are the days of unknowing uninformed worker drones who curtsy and
conform to every command barked at them from above. Today harks a new day of
critically-aware and self-thinking free artisans, no longer blind to the crown’s
chicanery.
Business owners’ dominion over us grows ever smaller. In most cases we are
declared subcontractors of the independent kind. In the often rapacious oculi
and empty encephala of repressive ringleaders, we are seen as employees, that
bastard cousin of the subservient slave.
Know your rights. Employees must collect hourly wages. If collecting
commission, you are not an employee. If you are not an employee, you are not
your supervisor’s servant.
Fixed hours and fallacious practices do not apply to such parties.
Regarding the collection of commission, settle for nothing less than fifty
percent. You are the creator; make sure you are compensated as such. Miserly
managers will try to swindle us of our silver, but we the educated masses will
keep a fastened fix on our finances.
Never relinquish creative control over your compendium of compositions. If you
choose compromise in a situation, let it be with your own circumspection. Those
dense in the ways of design will demand drab drawings from us, but we, the
cognizant, creative class will steer the misinformed multitude towards seals of
style and marks of magnificence.
Let the festooning of odious ornamentation be left alone. These are matters of
concern only for Kitchen Magicians, Scratchers, those incongruent with
imaginative integrity. While we promote adulation for our craft, so must we
reflect this in our amiable artistry.
When permanently parlaying a person’s pelt, we do so only and always in sanitary
surroundings. Those unconcerned or unfamiliar with cleanliness are our enemies
and should be treated to reeducation with a focus on why clean conditions are so
critical.
It is our responsibility to inform ourselves and others of the importance of a
pristine practice. Failure to do so is a disservice to us and our patrons.
Concerning the tattoo community, an unclean artist is an unwelcome one.
Symbolize the salubrious specialist.
Apprentices and future apprentices take note: your pursuit is one for knowledge
and should be treated as such. Many covetous coaches will attempt to cheat you
out of your time and legal tender with disregard to your inquiry for
information. Do your research before falling prey to these hungry vultures.
It is essential that an effort is made to talk to as many experts in the field
as one can possibly hold encounters with. An informed and studious student is
not one easily swindled. Always be overly critical and wary upon signing
documentation presented by seemingly authoritative persons.
Always be present and ready to interject thoughtful insights wherever questions
of legalities and legislation arise. It is our duty to participate in and help
forge the terms that dictate our trade. From this day forward, we refuse to let
others think for us.
Whenever possible, we will push towards becoming our own masters. With no
chiefs above to control and cheat us, we are free to start our own endeavors,
creating cooperative artist communes, offering mutual aide to any and all within
the community.
Managers are no longer necessary when the artists manage themselves. We freely
work as we freely create. Always remember that your boss needs you, you don’t
need your boss.
Refuse to don the ensemble of elitism; holding yourself above other artists will
only lead to a lamentable life. The hoarding of secrets is what fuels
oppressive hierarchy. It is through the education of all that wish to learn,
that the art and field will truly grow. Altruistic artists will always breed
more admirable art.
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