These are the 10 initial tenets of Denver Obscurantism as a movement:
1. The Denver Obscurantist is, first and foremost, capable of critical thought regarding social structures and temporal cause and effect.
2. Denver Obscurantism as a movement is rooted in DIY culture, punk culture, underground culture, and any other esoteric culture which proliferates and persists in secret despite the ongoing interests of the mainstream.
3. The Denver Obscurantism Society is dedicated, primarily, to the collection, promotion, and categorization of the offbeat, overlooked, underappreciated, and generally obscure. The more obscure a piece, the more value it carries.
4. The Denver Obscurantism Society stands in opposition to the idea that original ideas do not exist, or that all art is inherently derivative by nature. Rather, it regards the conception of new ideas as vital human behavior.
5. The Denver Obscurantism Society also stands in direct opposition to the concept known colloquially as “Death Of The Author”. The Denver Obscurantist believes that, while art is subject to interpretation by its consumers, a living artist should always be respected as a primary source of meaning, and respected as a person.
6. The Denver Obscurantist is willing to collaborate with fellow Obscurantists on creative projects in the literary, visual, or audio realm, in the pursuit of creating as much artistic output as logistically possible.
7. Denver Obscurantism encourages and relies heavily on alternative forms of communication between members- VHS tapes, compact cassettes, mail-order distribution, floppy disks, old 90s software, and printed media, among many others, are vital to Obscurantism as an ideal and as an ethos.
8. The Denver Obscurantism Society recognizes that in the pursuit of new ideas, free thought, freedom of expression and freedom of speech must be allowed to flourish, and that the above methods of communication are the most effective in the pursuit of free speech and free expression, as well as in the proliferation of new ideas.
9. As a communal organization, any funds donated to the Denver Obscurantism Society will be re-invested for the purchase of creative resources and events. Any Denver Obscurantism Society-endorsed media can be printed and sold freely by any member, who may retain 100% of the profit if they so choose.
10. The Denver Obscurantism Society will, unless stated otherwise, meet weekly on Saturdays at the Cheesman Park Pavilion, at 7 P.M. for the purposes of media analysis and the free exchange of ideas regarding human expression as it pertains to Denver in the 21st Century, during a thrilling paradigm shift.
These are lesser tenets developed gradually by DOS members over time. This list is subject to change.
1. The Denver Obscurantist should be honest with themselves and fellow Obscurantists about popular media franchises they dislike. When you accept that the popular or mainstream can be flawed, you start to embrace the obscure.
2. Following long periods of creative drought in a given region, a flood of human expression is inevitable.
3. Going by the sentiment of Lesser Tenet #2, it's only a matter of time until Denver culture jams itself into relevancy.
4. The DOS operates on the notion of "quantity over quality," meaning that producing a ton of content all at once is guaranteed, eventually, to result in the production of at least one piece of quality content. In other words, quantity logically necessitates quality.
5. Obsessing over the minutia and insignificant details of art during the creative process prevents the creation of art.
6. We stand firmly against elitism in the art world, considering that the creation of art has been since prehistoric times a means of earnest human expression in the face of adversity. Adversity generally strengthens the potency of art and its effect on the consumer. Art should be accessible to the everyman.
7. Inside jokes are a divine language.
8. Talk shit, get hit
9. You don't have to agree with all 10 main tenets to be a DOS member. In fact, you probably shouldn't, because a group where everyone agrees about everything all the time is boring.