Composed June 17, 2008 by Claire Long
Art is too big to see and too small to comprehend. I make art to create worlds within worlds, giving access to the unseen
psychological realities that we inhabit and the interdependence that is the fabric of being. I make art to enrich society
through reflection by giving shared form to individual experience and individual form to shared experience. I make art to
expose and question structure, connections and fabrication. I make art to loosen the senses. I am on a quest to undermine
stagnation, abuse, perceived stability and “the ego.” I strive not to strive, avoiding where I am; I strive to be engaged in
the moment. I publicly explore my and others’ neurosis, innocence, perceptions and potentialities through working with
“other.” I look backwards, forwards, up, down in and out to study the human condition nested interdependently in the
ecology of the planet. I work with immeasureables, unquantifiables. I invent words. I experiment.
I am on a quest for authenticity.
Manifesto 2: I am for an able-art
(Inspired by the form of Claes Oldenburg ‘Statement’ 1962)
Composed June 23, 2008 by Claire Long
I am for an art that is…..
open-able-close-able-soci-able- whimsic-able-politic-able-compos-able-recycl-able-understand-able-land-able-float-able-
edib-able-simpl-able-complic-able-flexib-able-sandwich-able-fabrica-able-slam-able-clam-able-flam-able-ram-able-
cram-able-frame-able-unit-able-beautif-able.
Manifesto 3: I am for AN ART.....
(Inspired by ‘Statement’ 1962, Claes Oldenburg)
Composed June 24, 2008 by Claire Long
I am for an art that is ripened in the sun and germinates when it rains. I am for an art that knows wind in its branches and
soil between its toes, an art that rises with spring run-off and shrinks with evaporative summer heat. I am for an art that needs
sunshine to prevent vitamin D deficiency, exercise to prevent atrophy and company to avoid depression.
I am for an art that tells stories from memory and plants fertile gaps in understanding.
I am for an art that melts on the sidewalk and sticks to the soles of careless shoes, that follows and strays and pops up unexpectedly.
I am for an art that pretends to runaway, but doesn’t know why; for an art that returns and doesn’t need to explain.
I am for an art that builds tree forts and cooks with all ingredients. I am for an art that thinks through the processes of food alchemy.
I am for an art that undulates with the tides and is affected by the pull of the moon. I am for an art that takes long hikes alone in the
mountains, rides a mountain bike and finds its way on topographical maps.
I am for an art that can be eaten by kangaroo rats and stolen by chickadees.
I am for an art that can be perceived by all six senses.
I am for an art that is macro and microcosmic.
I am for an art that likes camping, sleeps under bridges and occasionally enjoys a five star hotel. I am for an art that speaks many
languages, plays with translation, and knows but ignores its limitations. I am for an art that inhabits territories on the edge, presses
against boundaries and crosses borders.
I am for an art that makes up words and explores imagined territories. I am for an art that lives in conversation and takes dream bubble
baths. I am for an art that takes form through exchange.
I am for an art that is impermanent, and knows old age, sickness and death.
I am for an art that takes core samples of “truth”, examines authenticity with a microscope and forgets to write down the results. I am for
an art that takes questions for a walk and asks non-human beings for answers.
I am for an art that is unafraid of failure.
I am for art that lives in silence, but knows when to yell. I am for art that springs up with a smile to a stranger. I am for art that is good enough
to exist at any moment.
I am for an art that re-visions history, identifies, opens, resists and promotes. I am for an art that holds up mirrors. I am for an art that has sharp
teeth and claws and is said to have a “bite louder than its bark.”
I am for the art of “skillful means” and “beginners mind.”
I am for an art that reveals the connection between a june bug and your uncle.
I am for an art that draws thoughts and maps ideas.
I am for an art that finds loss and loses found.
I am for an art that rides radio waves and takes refuge in eardrums.
I am for an art that produces sawdust and smells like a woodshop.
I am for an art that hits pressure points and licks wounds.
I am for an art that strives not to strive.
I am for an art that grows stronger under pressure.
I am for art that creates and follows narritories. I am for art that slips and shatters when no one is looking. I am for art that drinks tea and eats wild
food, knows the properties of herbs and harvests acorns in the fall.
I am for an art that changes color with the season, and knows how to deal with flood and drought. I am for art that is quick and ambitious, but knows
how to eat humble pie at your grandmother’s table.
I am for an art that excavates thoughts and puts them haphazardly on universal shelves. I am for an art that catalogues thoughts with made-up systems
that take a lifetime to learn.
Navigating Narritory, Creating Terristory: story as a way of knowing
Claire Long
Dissertation, MA Art and Ecology
Dartington College of Art, Devon England
September, 2008
What roles do story and narrative play in the acquisition of knowledge, identity
with place and the meeting of and connection to other?
In this dissertation I explore the different facets of this question through desk
research, action research and results from a questionnaire. Juxtaposing
theoretical enquiry with personal vignettes from these research sources I explore
the themes of story and place, land, language, culture and reverberation.
Through this research with a focus on oral stories, I address the narrative
potential of place and investigate “storying” as a collaborative act. I introduce
and define two new words, “narritory” and “terristory” as possible additions to
expand the vocabulary available to describe the relationship between experience
of place and its translation into story. I briefly examine different definitions of
story and investigate the possibility of story as nomad. I also introduce the
diverse roles that story plays in our lives, from micro relationships with place to
the macro manifestations as culture and paradigms. Throughout the piece I
return to themes of story and place, narritory and terristory.
To read my entire dissertation, download it by clicking here:
