The Model Mutiny Manifesto
by Anthony Le and Ashley Jaye Williams
Inspired by Marina Abramović’s “An Artist's Life Manifesto,” we present the Model Mutiny Manifesto.
An artist shall sign their work so future artists can identify them.
An artist shall accept that an art practice is 98% isolation.
An artist shall not self-censor their art for the perceived conservative views of an audience. The audience shall value being moved emotionally even if in disagreement.
An artist shall not repeat themselves, without intent.
An artist shall not publicly display art featuring Feminine-presenting people simply as sex objects that serve the male gaze.
An artist shall use “beauty” as a red herring.
An artist shall not publicly display art featuring people of other races or gender identities than themselves without engaging in dialogue about just criticism, intersectionality and exploitation.
An artist shall criticize white supremacy, patriarchy and capitalism in others’ work and their own
An artist shall make work that only they can make with a specificity they can explain.
An artist shall make public art that values humanity more than their client.
An artist shall value experimentation over outcome.
An artist shall use vulnerability like smelling salts.
An artist shall not publicly display nostalgic art about Washington, DC, until DC statehood is codified.
An artist shall acknowledge envy of other artists but then let it go.
An artist shall not say they “made” another artist without accompanying DNA test results.
An artist shall search for self-love before loving others like the airplane oxygen mask instructions.
An artist shall value the camaraderie of other artists who encourage their practice.
An artist shall not value the approval of other artists who only view them as capitalistic competition.
An artist shall share knowledge and resources with other artists, especially younger and emerging artists.
An artist shall not wield their status, access or ownership of an art space as a way to leverage and solicit sexual relationships with community members seeking platonic engagement.
An artist shall believe other artist’s stories of predatory interactions and abuse and inform others they trust no matter how long ago this happened.
An artist shall not lower their own expectations to accommodate someone else's lack of imagination.
Aqua Plugs:
Ant and Ash are 2024 artists in residence at Playhaus, an experimental art space located at 1325 5th St NE Suite C, Washington, DC behind Union Market.
Ant and Ash both have works in the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities FY 2024 Juried Exhibition, opening 1/12/24 at CAH.
Ant has a painting in the group show “figure” at Touchstone Gallery, opening 1/12/24.
Ashley Jaye Williams is a painter, muralist, sculptor, and ultra scorpio. They like to wax poetic on random bits of pop culture nostalgia and are interested in disarming people, places and things. They are in love with artist Anthony Le and listen to songs obsessively on repeat while working. Their work deals with themes of defiance through otherness, and aims to explore the discord of modern life, identity and technology. View Ashley’s work at ashleyjayewilliams.com and follow @ashleyjayewilliams.
Anthony Trung Quang Le (he/they) is a DC-based multidisciplinary artist and identifies as Vietnamese, American and Queer. They work in painting, video, sculpture, printmaking, performance, writing and curation, exploring the joy of nonconformity. View Anthony's work at AnthonyLeArt.com and follow @AnthonyLeArt.