Personal Manifesto of a Set Designer

Whoever has taken a look behind the scenes of a theatre knows that the stage isn’t the only place for action. Studying scenic design not only requires a grasp of the big concept that is theatre, but also ambition, creativity, and utter commitment. I am aware of the challenges involved in pursuing a career in theatre, but my experience in this field has shown me that these are qualities I possess. My ultimate ambition is to be a scenic designer, but the whole process of creating a production inspires me, from the initial decision for a play right up until the last curtain falls.The thing that attracts me to theatre is that it is a very diverse subject, combining soft skills such as interacting with the director and the team, with art, creativity and “hands on” work to create a perfect production.When I first started at this university, I was introduced to the concept of the “artistic manifesto”. It was something that struck me as immediately useful, whether for a company of artists or for a single person: a document to which you could return, time after time, to review the reasons why you started out on a particular path, and to examine whether those goals are still valid, whether you’ve remained true to them, and whether some of your practices need to change.
My personal artistic manifesto, in its current iteration:
I believe in art.
I believe that art is not merely a pastime, or a hobby. Art is a necessity for human life, as important as food, and safety, and shelter. A life devoid of art is not worth living — indeed, cannot even be called “life”. To live without art is merely to exist, in a sort of existential limbo, awaiting illumination and enlightenment.I believe that art is the purest of human endeavors, beginning as it does with the most basic of human qualities, the thing that separates intelligent beings from mere animals: the need to communicate. When early man painted on cave walls, told stories around the fire, and learned to create