The Manifesto of Rumpelization
Issued by the International Society for Advanced Rumpel Studies (membership currently under review).
For too long, art has been imprisoned by accuracy.
For too long, painters have measured noses, aligned eyes, and obsessed over such tyrannical concepts as "proportion" and "likeness."
Rumpelization rejects these constraints.
Rumpelization is not the failure to achieve realism.
It is the deliberate liberation of reality from its unnecessary details.
Where traditional portraiture asks, "Does this look like the subject?"
Rumpelization asks, "Does the subject deserve to look like the subject?"
Article I: The Sacred Distortion
Every face contains a hidden truth.
Unfortunately, that truth is often buried beneath anatomy.
The Rumpelist removes these distractions.
An ear may migrate.
A forehead may expand.
A chin may become an independent political entity.
These are not mistakes.
They are revelations.
Article II: The Triumph of Recognition
A successful Rumpelization exists in a state of paradox.
The viewer must immediately recognize the subject while simultaneously wondering what catastrophe has occurred.
If the audience says:
"I know exactly who that is, but I have several questions,"
the work has succeeded.
Article III: The Rejection of Perfection
Perfection is sterile.
Perfection is predictable.
Perfection is what computers do.
Rumpelization celebrates the trembling hand, the misplaced pixel, the accidental brushstroke, and the mysterious shape that appeared halfway through the painting and refuses to leave.
Especially the mysterious shape.
Article IV: The Principle of Escalation
When faced with a questionable artistic decision, the Rumpelist must not retreat.
The Rumpelist must continue.
If an eye appears too large, make the other eye larger.
If a shadow looks strange, deepen it.
If the painting begins to resemble a witness sketch from a supernatural crime, proceed confidently.
History favors the committed.
Article V: The Cult of Character
A photograph records appearance.
A Rumpelization records presence.
The objective is not to capture what a person looked like on a particular day.
The objective is to capture the feeling that they might suddenly start telling stories, arguing with strangers, or demanding another cup of coffee.
Character outweighs correctness.
Spirit outweighs geometry.
Article VI: The MS Paint Principle
No tool is too humble.
No medium is beneath art.
A masterpiece created with expensive oils and centuries of technique is admirable.
A masterpiece created with a mouse and stubborn determination is admirable and slightly suspicious.
Rumpelization recognizes no hierarchy of tools.
Only hierarchy of courage.
Final Declaration
We therefore proclaim:
That resemblance is optional.
That expression is mandatory.
That every portrait may be improved by at least 17% more weirdness.
And that no painting should ever be abandoned merely because it has become ridiculous.
For the ridiculous is often only the undiscovered masterpiece.
RUMPLEIZE BOLDLY.
DISTORT WITH PURPOSE.
CONFUSE THE CRITICS.
MAKE THEM LOOK TWICE.
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