12 Apr 2012

Open call: 1work/ 1room/ 1night/ at Gitte Bohr, Berlin

Gitte Bohr. Club für Kunst und politisches Denken invites artists to send in a work to the exhibition series 1work/ 1room/ 1night/

Individualism and neoliberal agendas encourage artists to ignore the political and social dimension of being an artist in our society. Instead, the focus is on self-realisation and the artist's career.

A place for critique becomes harder to find. Since Andy Warhol's establishment of the artist as businessman, it has been argued that the role of art has undergone a paradigmatic change. Is it obsolete to invoke art's social functions?
Are artists today really only into what is beneficial for their careers? What is the use of streamlining projects to the demands of the art market or institutional representation, while an overwhelming part of art producers cannot make a living on art and are denied an influence on official discourse?

The question is whether artists have a role or function in society, or if they merely are producers of luxurious consumer goods. While arts funding and the access to avant-garde culture is increasingly privatised, we find it important to address artists' possibilities for critique. We therefore call for artists to send us a work of critical art. Critique in art is not only a direct political statement – it can be formal or socially engaged, aiming at aesthetic or societal transformation.

A competent jury will select from the received proposals which works will be shown. The selected works will be presented in Gitte Bohr's space in West Germany – Büro für postpostmoderne Kommunikation in Berlin-Kreuzberg on a rate of about one per month, starting in May and for the rest of this year. That is, all in all about eight works will be chosen. Based on the principle of one night, one space, one piece, the presentation will last for one night, and will consist of the presentation of a work in the small Gitte Bohr room and an artist talk. As Gitte Bohr is very poor, there is unfortunately no budget for the show. We do, however, pay your travel expences (up to 100 Euro) and we provide you with sleeping possibility. Gitte Bohr and West Germany will use their networks to make PR for the show.
One factor for being chosen will therefore be the project's realisability within the temporal and spatial limits at our disposal.

The small space for the exhibition is about 2x4 meters with no windows, the door is in one of the short walls. The larger surrounding space of West Germany is available for use for an artist talk. Therefore: do not expect neat gallery rooms.

Gitte Bohr. Club für Kunst und politisches Denken is an independent art space existing since 2010. It focuses on critical art and theory in its exhibitions and events.

You should send us:
- One PDF/link to a website with a work or proposal
- A short statement or description of your work or idea
- Your CV

Deadline is May 1, 2012.

Please send your proposal to this email address: gittebohr@gmx.de
For more information about Gitte Bohr: www.gittebohr.de