The Black Manifesto is human. Black is a symbolic colour. The Black Manifesto has to have the symbolic value and greatness of black. It relies on the spiritual nature, not the physical. It may cover the obvious to reveal the hidden aspects of a human mind and spirit. The Black Manifesto is a revolution. It condemns the materialistic approach towards art and transforms the aesthetic standards of society, while exposing another kind of beauty - the beauty of the strange, the beauty of the wrong, and the beauty of the grotesque.

What was considered beautiful until now is no longer beautiful - because it has become mainstream. Imperfection is a value that helps in constructing the absolute perfection of imagery, showing a real human spirit, but not necessarily a realistic approach.

Art must offer a new perspective, a never-seen-before image, not a worthless copy of reality. Not even the photographic camera - except for photojournalism - is used to exhibit the obvious, or the ordinary. So all forms of visual art must offer something new, that is not present in the public eye. The Black Manifesto means the extraordinary - no matter how, when, or where. It can even start from something apparently ordinary, that is altered or captured as needed to achieve perfection.

Digital manipulation is lacking body, it is, in its essence, just a bunch of pixels. However if a digital manipulation reveals what couldn't have been revealed in any other way, it is completely fine. The rule should be that it needs a body, a life, a warmth. If digital artifacts are the base of an image, it can be considered art if one can express an emotion through them. I practice digital photography, however I try to minimize as much as possible the post-processing, by working on everything I want to see with my bare hands - not the mouse.

Surreal elements occur - as the metamorphosis of a human into a fantastic, unheard-of creature is the key of The Black Manifesto. The pure, natural spirit is exposed in its nudity through the artificial manipulation of the body in order to represent a true, unaltered image of the spirit.

Art should be based on the spiritual process in which it is created, and not at all looked at in a commercial way, because this alters and depreciates its value.

Humans are surrounded by routine. They do not need to see the same routine they are trapped in every day in a painting or photo which they would want to hang on their wall to make their life happier, more inspiring, or simply for the sake of visual excitement. They need something to revive their lost spirit. They need something to dream about. They need the perfect imperfection - that one imperfection that will make them appreciate life.

That imperfection is achieved by respecting the medium you are working with and knowing it. If it is painting, it must look like one - it must not look like a photograph. You should see exactly the brush strokes that built the image. If it is photography, it should reveal the subject's most pure aspect, even if it is not entirely realistic, the image must compliment the spiritual core of the subject.

All art, according to the Black Manifesto, must be powerful enough to change lives.

Whatever the art form, the image must teach its public new skills. It must change mentalities. It must start a revolution. It must make people realize what they're doing wrong. It must help people evolve. It must trigger a process of spiritual renaissance. It must be different and original. It must be useful to the world - it must be capable of transforming and improving it.

I explore my mind with everything inside it, every quality and every flaw that I might have, and celebrate them. I have a well-defined identity. I have a style that defines not only my work, but my whole essence.

This is The Black Manifesto.

Medicine Madison

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