Incidentalist Manifesto

[anna balint]

>From Dmytri Kleiner <quirk at trick.ca>

Incidentalist Manifesto

DRAFT 11



Incidentalism

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 intentionally 
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. 



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