OPEN
CALL
Art Laboratory Berlin is seeking artists and/ or artist collectives with
proposals for two projected series to be exhibited from mid 2011 to late
2012.
The projects
should involve an investigation of the themes from a 21st century viewpoint,
taking into account the myriad changes, technologically, socially, visually
in world culture over the last 25 years. We are particularly interested
in work that goes beyond the post-modern structures that are commonplace
in much of today's art world.
1. Synesthesia
Synesthesia,
a blend of the two Greek words "sensation" ("aisthesis")
and "together" or "union" ("syn"), implies
the experience of two, or more, sensations occuring together. In almost
all the cases it is a visual sensation caused by auditory stimulation
(see John E. Harrison: Synesthesia. The Strangest Thing. Oxford, 2001).
In history
we find a strong interest in synesthetic perception during certain periods
such as the Renaissance, the Romantic era, the end of the 19th century
(e.g. Rimbaud, Wagner) and especially at the beginning of the 20th Century.
Not only did the young generation of avant-garde artists experiment with
the effect of simultaneous stimulation of the senses (e.g. color and sound
in Kandinsky), but even involved the audience. The Italian futurist Marinetti,
for example, proposed so-called tactile dinner parties, where the guests
were wearing pyjamas covered with special tactile materials (sponge, cork,
sandpaper, felt) and were sprayed with perfume between courses.
"How
do interrelations across different senses - synesthesia - express themselves
in the two domains of perception and language? First in perception, synesthesia
reveals itself in responses to light and color and form, to sound, to
touch, taste, and smell. To a synesthetic perceiver, music may produce
visual images whose shape, brightness and color follow the music's melody,
harmony and tempo" - see Rimbaud's "le déreglement de
tous les sens" (Lawrence E. Marks: Synaethesia. Perception and Metaphor.
In: Aesthetic Illusion. Berlin, 1990).
How are we
confronted with this phenomena of synesthesis in the late 20th and early
21st century?
Art Laboratory
Berlin is interested in works that investigate different combinations
of sense perception, and its interaction with memory, the brain, and connections
between various artistic and scientific disciplines. Of special interest
would be work that involves smell, or taste in combination with sound
and the visual. Also of interest would be work that investigates people
who experience synthesia in their daily life (e.g. famous synesthestes
such as Rimsky Korsakov or Nabakov) or artists investigating their own
synesthetic experiences.
2. Time
and Technology
The development
of new technologies over the past 25 years has greatly influenced the
way we live our lives. The personal computer with its graphic user interface
(GUI), the internet, mobile telephones have revolutionized the way we
work and communicate. How has this all effected our sense of time? On
one hand new technologies have made communication cheaper and more efficient.
On the other hand in many countries working hours have increased, and
the line between working time and leisure has been blurred.
The science
of genetics is altering the speed of evolution. Computers carry on actions
in time spans that are so small that they are incomprehensible to the
human mind. The market place demands more productivity in shorter time
periods; while medicine promises to expand our life span.
How exactly
are these technological advances influencing our sense(s) of time?
Art Laboratory
Berlin is interested in works that investigate how the technological changes
of the last 25 years have changed and influenced our perception of time,
as well as how we structure our time, plan our days, and live our lives.
How do these changes alter our biology? What are the conflicts between
different 'types of time:' biological, subjective, objective, social,
etc.? What is the contemporary connection between time and space - actual
space, virtual space vs. actual time and virtual time? How will these
changes effect our future as a society and as a species?
How to apply
Proposals
are welcome that address any of these questions or that are related to
the topics. There is no restriction in terms of media.
Please send
a proposal on CD or DVD (WIN compatible) by 15 August 2010 to
Art Laboratory Berlin, Prinzenallee 34, 13359 Berlin, Germany.
Included
should be your contact, a CV (or CV of the collective members), a proposal
description (with visuals if possible), and URLs for any additional information
about your work that may enhance your proposal.
Please do
NOT send portfolios (or any envelope larger than A5). Art Laboratory Berlin
will not return the sent material. However material can be picked up during
opening hours in Autumn 2010, after email confirmation.
Text
in .pdf format
link to floorplan
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