A Manifesto of Questions
Is there a rural art? If so, who makes it rural?
Who is a rural american? What are the qualifications?
Who is a rural artist? Why?
Who is an urban artist? How?
Who is a suburban artist? When?
Must a rural artist reflect rurality?
Must an urban artist reflect urbanity?
Is rural america a geographic category?
Is rural america a political category?
Is rural america a cultural category?
Who owns rural america?
Who does not own rural america?
Where is rural america? What is rural america?
Is rural america at the edge of some center of america? If so, where is the center?
Are there multiple centers? Are there multiple edges?
What happens at the center that does not happen at the edges?
What happens at the edges that does not happen at the center?
What is gained when someone moves something from the edges into the center? What is lost?
What is lost when someone moves something from the center to the edges? What is gained?
Does a person who was born in rural america become an urban american once they leave?
Is there a timeframe associated with becoming an urban american?
Does a person who was born in urban america become a rural american once they’ve left the city?
Is there a timeframe associated with becoming a rural american?
Can a person who was born in urban america have a rurality about them? What would this look like?
Can a person who was born in rural america have a urbanity about them? What would this look like?
What is a rural outlook in an urban space?
What is an urban outlook in a rural space?
Can a rural person use technology? What kinds of technology can they use?
Is there a way in which a rural person can not use technology?
How much technology can a rural person use before they are no longer rural?
Can a rural person live in a built environment? If so, what kinds of built environments can they live in?
How much of the built environment can a rural person live in before they are an urban or a suburban person?
Can an urban person tend to the natural environment? What kind of tending can they do?
Is there a way in which an urban person can not use the natural environment?
How much of the natural environment can they make use of directly before they are no longer an urban person?
Where are the suburbs?
What is the difference between a suburb and a rural area?
What makes a person a suburban person?
Are the suburbs both rural and urban or neither?
What visual identifiers are rural?
What visual identifiers are suburban?
What visual identifiers are urban?
Is rural america a different category than other rural areas in other countries?
Does culture make a rural area different than other rural areas?
Does technology make a rural area different than other rural areas?
Is there a rural that is not bound by geography or time?
New Rural, June 2025
