1983 Reprinted from class writing assignment
I call my art Transpersonal because my goal is to explore all realms of human
experience from the most primitive to the most evolved. I want to be able to include any medium, any technique, and any subject in order
to physicalize the innate truths of my being's personal experience. I intend to
reach within and without, beyond the dimensions of self, emotional, intellectual,
"speak the human speaking".
I enrolled in art school for the privilege of practicing the skills that I feel
are necessary to the production of quality art. If I produce masterful work it
will evolve slowly from my own uniqueness and honesty.
Beyond these generalizations, writing a manifesto seems inappropriate. I have no
wish to articulate my place within the confines of historical art. Art history
is a narrow perspective of what art is and how art has evolved. I believe that
art history has excluded me. Therefore, I rely on the little that has been written
that has been considerate of woman as a creative being with creative drives. I
have pieced together a history (a myth) for my-self that is altogether much more
functional than the history that has been taught to me. If my art were ever to
be fully accepted by the traditional and avant garde historians and critics of
our time, I believe they would have to re-examine and perhaps rewrite history.
I have no desire to either rebel against or accept any art movement. Either
attitude is too restrictive. I choose to remain open and allow other people's
art to affect me intuitively.
Finally I believe that art as a creative enterprise must be fearlessly experimental.
Only through risk-taking can artistic expression rise above beautiful
craft toward the creative.
Karle Howlett Murdock
from Ringling School of Art & Design Seminar Manifesto, professor Moe Mitchell 1983
__________________________________________________________________________________
2010 Manifesto of Philosophical Art:
Reflecting on my youthful perspective (above) 27 years later.
My work follows an organic unfolding, influenced by necessity and circumstance. My fine art work is theatrical while my theatrical work produced fine art pieces. My feet have firmly rooted in both creative worlds.
Scenic designing for well over a decade was gratifying and disappointing. I discovered that the theatre is not the cooperative creative problem solving utopia that I imagined it was. Rather it is another battle ground of egos who are vying for recognition in an art form, when, at it's best, has many souls becoming one. As one surrenders one often gets lost in the mix. If one stands out it is often at the expense of the art form. The challenges of going from idea to paper to wood and paint, as the plans pass through many critical hands, can be emotionally and physically draining especially when tight budgets create severe restrictions on space and time. By the end of the build, too often, as the show opens, I was barely awake enough to document the work. Many spectacular visual moments have "gotten away" existing only in memory or in photos that are too blurry and overexposed.
I have had the extraordinary good fortune of being cast as a player on the stage a few times. One remarkable night I opened in one theater as Blanche Dubois, while my Scenic Design for Merrily We Roll Along opened in another theater. One season employed at the Golden Apple Dinner Theater I designed 10 entire shows, painting, & propping all 10. That I have worked through the night while others slept, that I have sat down on the floor and wept with exhaustion, that I have discovered second and third winds to meet deadlines are private victories. Living the life of an artist takes extraordinary fortitude.
I understood that I would never be easily categorized so I did not try to control my plurality even as it may have slowed my "progress". Producing artwork has not made me rich or famous as I once fantasized. Art making is a thread that runs through my life that I nurture and protect keeping it alive and free from commercialism. That much is an accomplishment. I have lost the raw energy and ego of youth. The fire burns more deeply. I have become wiser. Aging can be a relief. Fear and anxiety giving way to calm confidence. Ah so, on to a new stage....
As I suspected, being female in a society that is still very much controlled by men, money and power has been challenging. At this writing many men, friends and foes, still don't see a problem, which, is still the problem I encounter! I have been accused of creating the difficulties myself. I steadfastly challenged stereotypes, chipping away at the status quo, and humbly keep doing the best I can. Trying to be really real. Women experience the world differently than men do or Viagra would work for all of us, that is the evidence.
My art is a life long process that offers some solutions. My best work reflects how I have encountered and interpreted the world. I have refined my philosophy through my work so it becomes philosophical.
KHM 2010
