Any sensible manifesto will have some barriers and guidelines to help define it. Constraints make for better creativity, even artificial or arbitrary ones. Take this interview quote:
“In general, opportunity tends to kill creativity. I think people don’t realize that. A painter goes into an art supplies store and sees all these different colours and supplies and thinks, “Oh, goody! This is going to make me a better painter.” Of course it’s not. It’s just going to make it harder to decide what not to use and what not to do. That’s what happens with a group of 20-year-old kids who walk into a studio with ProTools and a computer and they can record 400 tracks if they want to. Maybe now with the state of the music industry they’ll start spending less on albums and people will go back to reality. They should put up a plaque in every studio that says, ‘The Beatles recorded Revolver and Sgt. Pepper on four tracks.’ That’ll clear everyone’s head.” - Jack White, Pitchfork Magazine
Indeed Jack, indeed.
The following are some general guidelines Omnibucket recognizes as important to respect.
I.
The collision of great art and great stories expands the imagination, and evokes a deeper and more meaningful connection to both the art and the story.
II.
Collaboration brings out the best in creators.
III.
Any work must stand up to the benchmark of design and quality that the mainstream is used to. There are plenty of DIY underground places out there doing great work, but if we want to shift the thought and tastes and sensibilities of the mainstream public, then our bit of inspiration must stand up with the best that they’re used to.
III.
You must spread the word. Simple as that. This only works if the people involved help spread the word.
IV.
Why should children get all the fun of pictures in their storybooks? They shouldn’t, so don’t worry about breaking some traditional boundaries that have been in place for a while but aren’t useful.
V.
When appropriate, utilize constraints within the creative process, real or arbitrary. It makes for better work generally.
VI.
Multimedia is only going to gain strength, rightfully so. Multimedia takes advantage of the different powers of our different senses - most obviously images, words, and sounds - to provoke imagination, understanding, and emotion in different ways. Music has very strong power to emotionally charge. A picture is worth a thousand words. But words are what inspire man to great or terrible deeds. Each has its strength. How do you, for example, imbibe mere words with the emotional power of music? We don’t yet know, but the question is in our minds.
