The Boredom Manifesto

The Boredom Manifesto

1. Embrace the Void Boredom is not the absence of meaning but the presence of unfiltered reality. In a world of constant stimulation, boredom is a revolt against distraction. It is the blank page, the empty room, the silence that insists on being heard. Embrace it. There is no need to fill the void.

2. Reject Productivity We live in an age that glorifies efficiency, output, and speed. Boredom rebels against this. It is the refusal to be useful. It is the rejection of the idea that time must be “spent” or “filled.” Boredom is not wasted time, it is reclaimed time. The most radical act in the modern world is to be unproductive.

3. Celebrate the Mundane In boredom, the ordinary becomes extraordinary. The ticking of a clock, the sound of your breath, the way sunlight moves across a wall—these are not dull details, but the essence of existence. Boredom teaches us to see, not what we want, but what is. It is a celebration of the overlooked and the undervalued.

4. Slow Down Boredom is a deceleration of the self. In it, time stretches, widens, and loses its grip. We slow down not to rest, but to experience time outside of deadlines and schedules. In boredom, we are not waiting for the next thing, we are inside the moment, however long it lasts. To be bored is to refuse the rush.

5. Resist Entertainment Entertainment is not a cure for boredom, but a weapon used to suppress it. Endless streams of content are designed to prevent us from ever confronting our boredom. But in boredom, we meet ourselves—our desires, anxieties, and truths. Do not flee to the comfort of screens and noise. Sit with the discomfort of doing nothing.

6. Discover Creativity Boredom is the seedbed of creativity. In the space left by boredom, new ideas can emerge. Innovation, art, and thought do not arise from busy minds but from bored ones. Boredom gives the brain room to wander, to daydream, to invent. It is the birthplace of imagination.

7. Feel Time’s Weight Boredom makes us aware of time in a way that busyness cannot. It makes time tangible, heavy, and sometimes unbearable. But in this weight, we confront our mortality. Boredom is the raw experience of being alive in time. Feel its weight, let it press upon you, and find freedom in acknowledging that you cannot escape it.

8. Find Depth in Stillness Stillness is not emptiness. Boredom shows us the depth of stillness, the richness of not doing. It is a form of meditation, a way to explore the inner landscape of the mind. In stillness, we find what the frenzy of action hides: a deeper understanding of ourselves.

9. Accept Discomfort Boredom is uncomfortable because it forces us to confront the self in its rawest form. In boredom, we lose the scaffolding of tasks and roles, and we are left only with our inner dialogue. But this discomfort is the path to self-awareness. Do not flee from it. Boredom is the challenge to be present with yourself.

10. Boredom as Freedom Boredom is liberation from the tyranny of external demands. It frees us from the need to always be entertained, always be busy, always be moving. It is freedom to exist without purpose or agenda. In boredom, we reclaim the autonomy to simply be. True freedom is not found in endless choices, but in the decision to do nothing at all.

Boredom is not a curse; it is a gift. It is a doorway to creativity, presence, and inner peace. Let us no longer fear boredom, but embrace it as the radical act it is.

Boredom Eats The Soul

(Langeweile essen Seele auf)

Intervention by The John Boredom Brigade

This video by the John Boredom Brigade, a militant ennui movement, was created in the most monotonous way possible.

Boredom Worker A sits for 90 minutes in front of his computer screen, filming Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s Ali: Fear Eats the Soul. Afterward, he meticulously edits out every scene with dialogue. What remains are the in-between moments, the scenes that, by the standards of modern productions, could easily be seen as dull or superfluous.

But it begs the question—are these "boring" scenes, in fact, where the real intrigue lies?

Meanwhile, Boredom Worker A becomes part of the piece himself, his reflection on the computer screen, his breathing, and the subtle sounds of his body merging with the work. Is he merely bored, or is he, in turn, boring the viewer? Or perhaps, he has an underlying agenda that remains mysteriously unexplained.

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Dieses Video der John Boredom Brigade, einer militanten Ennui Bewegung, entstand auf die langweiligste Art.

Boredom Worker A. setzt sich 90 Minuten vor seinen Computerbildschirm und filmt Rainer Werner Fassbinders Film Angst essen Seele auf ab. Anschließend werden die Szenen mit Dialog rausgeschnitten. Was übrig bleibt, sind die Szenen dazwischen, die aus Sicht moderner Produktionen als langweilig wahrgenommen werden können.

Es stellt sich jedoch die Frage, ob nicht genau in diesen Szenen das eigentlich Interessante passiert.

Gleichzeitig wird der Boredom Worker mit seiner Reflektion im Computer Bildschirm, seinem Atmen und seinen Körpergeräuschen Teil des Werks. Ist ihm langweilig oder langweilt er den Zuseher? Oder hat er möglicherweise eine Agenda, die nicht aufgeklärt wird?