A Manifesto for Manifesto Jam 2022:

LOOSE THE WORDS CHOKED BACK, THEY WILL FEED THE FUTURE

It is time to put down your tools, to look beyond the work at hand to the imagined, incredible could be's.To turn to the impractical, the messy and the unabridged. In 2018 the first Manifesto Jam ran and it is my belief that the manifestos written then have only become more important. They are signposts of where we were, and the paths we could, have and tried to walk - they are documents I turn back to regularly in my own life to re-energize.

A manifesto lays out our intentions, vision and desires for our art form. It addresses where we are - and where could be going. They are impractical tools, rhetorical and political - beautiful because of this. They cannot do anything on their own but - they kick down the door of our assumptions and makes a mess of the room. As Em Reed said in the first manifesto jams Manifesto;

     "Whether positive or negative, whether embracing potential worlds or outright rejecting the one you’re in. They are visionary, they demand, they refuse. Manifestoes can be of any scale, defining your personal aesthetic or how to fix the entire world, but they cannot be satisfied."

They are instead here to guide and inspire. And to put it bluntly, this manifesto, the one you are reading is an earnest call - write your manifesto; show the world what you urgently need to say, and to say is as Aaron Lim tells us; "in all your glory and fullness."

The form of a jam is intended to make this call more clear and direct - my manifesto is this Jam - a call to do it now. Make it today, tonight, write it on scrap paper, in a text file, draw it in paint, sing it into a microphone, bring it into the world however you can. Make it, edit it quickly, be unhinged, and be free. Like the musical jamming that inspired the idea of game jams, this is a call to respond, interact and play with each other - to let yourself be touched by someone else’s words, and to let your words reach out to them. 

I want everyone to write about games, how to make, write, eat, breath, mix, break, tease, investigate, explore, touch, respond, pray, summon, control, define, or anything with games and art. I want games that aren't games, that are liturgies, that are made by hands, made by people, that are grown in soft soil.

I want the urgent thoughts we choke back, to spring forth onto pages and into minds other than ours. 

I want them to be the food to fuel the next four years.

This Jam would not exist without the first Manifesto Jam by Em Reed - my thanks for running it then, and for being cool when I asked to run it again!

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MANIFESTO JAM RULES:

1. Write a manifesto! 
2. Upload it as a text file, pdf, png, mp3 or any other format
3. Add a title if you want and submit it to the jam

(sub "rule": Please don't just republish something you have posted elsewhere, no one is a cop here but it is a Jam, so y'know? - HOWEVER, that doc you have hidden on your computer, filled with scrawlings is fair game)

MANIFESTO HELPERS:

• Robert Yang compiled a list of videogame related manifestos in this blog post.
• You can also find a list of art manifestos to explore here.
• As well you can explore the Manifesto Jam page here.
• This jam is about fueling your existing creativity, and practice - be that writing about games, making them or just liking them, and making it more accessible to people who have never really written on the topic before. So write your manifesto from any perspective, from someone who makes games, someone who studies their history, critiques them, or simply enjoys playing them.
• Follow whatever form you feel gets across your manifesto in the most appropriate way (plain text? Carefully arranged? Written by hand? Recited? Playable? anything)
• There are no right answers to a manifesto - there are no correct ways to think about art, write about it and make it. Speak your truth in your own words, I promise they are beautiful.
• If you have any further thoughts or questions get in touch with me on twitter: @ApparentRaisin
• ~H a v e! F u n!~