Mud, put simply, is the foundation of our existence. It is universal, apolitical, communal, essential, accessible, and ubiquitous.
Our planet is made up of it.
We use it. We move it. We buy it. We sell it. We share it. We play with it. We fight over it. We have religious narratives about it.
All humans have some kind of connection/interaction with this substance and we are drawn to it. Because of the nature of the material, its ability to function in diverse ways, and our relationship with it, mud can act as an accessible metaphor for a diverse population.
Mud Manifesto*
Point # 1: Mud is a general term for a mixture of four substances: water, soil, silt, and clay. The ratio of these substances determines its name.
Point # 2: Human is a general term for a mixture of genetic material. The amounts of specific genes determine color, size, shape, and growth. Humans classify each other’s names.
Point # 3: Mud is determined by water. Once the water evaporates, the mud turns back into a dry solid. That substance can either be reconstituted back into mud, or else it has been permanently altered. These shifts in state happen on large and small scales.
Point # 4: Mud exists within a paradox. Mud's actions are linear, cyclical, and parallel. Our personal mud is a descendant from our Father’s mud. Our Father's mud exists as a descendant of his Father’s mud. The actions of each generation’s mud are a repetitive derivative of the previous mud. Multiple generations of the same mud may exist simultaneously.
Point # 5: Our mud consists of several bodies. Our bodies that were created by past mud, other mud bodies that we decide to surround ourselves with, and environmental mud bodies.
Point # 6: Mud bodies have varying levels of communication with their internal and external bodies. Our mud becomes altered by the external bodies through loss, communication, death, and transference.
Point # 7: Mud can function as block and/or mortar. Substance and substrate. It is fluid in being what is and what binds. It is the substance and the glue of those substances.
Point # 8: Mud creates mud. We create new mud through organic and artificial means. New mud and labeled mud comforts us.
Point # 9: We pass down our made mud in the form of inheritance; mud traits, mud artifacts, and mud lessons.
Point # 10: Mud is mud no matter if it is concrete or clay.
*The origin of the Mud Campaign began as an extension of H Schenck's artistic practice and his creation of the Mud Manifesto. It has since grown into its own entity and purpose with the intention of allowing anyone to contribute and share in its success and responsibility.