@irismexico Iris México

Conceptual Manifesto for the Politics of Universal Love, a project by Iris México, seeks a global love revolution. #Artivism #UniversalLove https://wp.me/p3JLEZ-9xv

Da click aquí para leer la versión en español: Amorosamente conceptual

We share with you the following press release from 2009 in which the artivism project “Conceptual Manifesto” that I have been working on since 2000 is mentioned. This is part of the process of digitizing the collection of Atma Unum.

Lovingly Conceptual

UNIVERSAL MANIFESTO

You walk through the lonely streets of Polanco, at the traffic light you see how a criminal smashes a window with a wrench and snatches the purse from a girl in a car, you turn away and continue indifferent: apathy. You keep going. You read previously political propaganda, now political advertising, as the candidate promises to save the Miguel Hidalgo delegation, you avert your gaze with disdain: distrust. Transformer: You are the ambassador of Honduras in Mexico, you go to your corresponding office in Condesa, but you are not allowed in because it is not the end of the story but the story is cyclical and the times of coups in Central America return, alongside rumors of a gringo invasion of a South American country: discouragement.

You turn pessimistically on your feet and, oh, meta-postmodern times!, there goes Iris Atma performing on the asphalt, formerly Iris México, scandalously beautiful, lovingly artistic, heading to the Danish embassy to receive acknowledgment of the Conceptual Manifesto for the Politics of Universal Love, a project of hers and the art critic, curator, and creator Carlos-Blas Galindo, “a humanist proposal,” a “global revolution,” but also an “evolution of self,” recognizing the “liberating impulse of the body, sexuality, intellect, and spirit of each individual,” since “a free person has the strength to flourish and contribute to those around them.”

In Cuernavaca, there is a restaurant called El Jarro Café whose emblem is Save the Municipality, Blas Galindo recounts, but we “are not on that frequency” because “it is more political to want to improve the world than just my neighborhood or delegation.” The intention is to “do politics on a worldwide, global, universal level, but that is not possible if one does not improve as a human being; they are two complementary opposites, the individual responsibility to contribute to the world improving.”

According to the art critic, “in the face of discredit in the whole of the West, following the postmodern thought developed from the 1980s until the end of the 20th century, of apathy, discouragement, pessimism, which is already at least more proactive than apathy, a manifesto like ours is extremely necessary; it is the right time to launch it and, for that reason, it will surely be well received.”

The Conceptual Manifesto has been delivered to ten embassies in Mexico City, plus more that may join, and it will be taken to Krishna and Buddha centers and others, and can be signed by anyone who wishes at the email address artextos (at) yahoo.com

Ironically, this loving manifesto has its origin in a “prank” and censorship that occurred nine years ago. Times when, Carlos-Blas Galindo recounts, certain individuals intended to make Oaxaca “the capital of conceptual art in Latin America. So, to that extent.” For this, they “tried to hijack the artistic takeover of the Balmori building in the Roma neighborhood of Mexico City; they wanted to do the same in a building on Crespo Street in the Oaxaca capital that vagrants occupied to inhale substances but requesting, not these, but those, permission from the owners, the municipality, the police, everyone. The result was a mess, a chaotic situation. They invited Iris and me to participate, but never confirmed, although in the end, on the penultimate day, they told us that if we wanted, we could bring our works. We decided to participate.”

As such a takeover, he continues, was “a figment of imagination, a prank,” and “a business venture,” Iris proposed a version of the classic tale “The Emperor’s New Clothes” and “I simply made a sign that I placed above that read ‘This house is for sale,’ plus a phone number, which announced ‘Conceptual art for sale,’ as well as the phone of Carmen Hernández Arvizu, who at that time was involved in the entire story.” Almost at the same time as they placed the works, they were removed; someone who felt offended and alluded had taken them, stolen.

What we wanted to express, Iris Atma states, was that criticism is always necessary and should not be taken personally; also that “not everything can be called conceptual art,” and we believe “in the social approach of artistic work.” We think that this, as Juan Acha has said, should not be seen only as an object for market consumption.

Original publication:

• Paciano, Al. (August 2009) Amorosamente Conceptual. Revista Tangente, Year 2. No. 16. pp. 12 and 13. Mexico. http://issuu.com/tangente/docs/tangente16 Link consulted in April 2024.

Continue your reading:

• Conceptual Manifesto for a Patrimony Law
• Behind the scenes of the Conceptual Manifesto
• Transcendence through Art Manifesto
• Kundalini Manifesto
• #HousingMatters
• Jemaa el-Fnaa; Main square of Marrakesh
• Contemporary Art and Flags
• Conceptual Manifesto for Creative Solidarity

Art Manifesto