18 Aug 2016

Open Call for art/design residency, Eindhoven

Vertical Gallery (VG) together with Economia Festival (organized by Baltan Laboratories) are launching a call for residency to produce an artwork in the context of Plug-in-City. The resident artist / designer is expected to build the artwork according at least to one of the 5 topics of Economia, by engaging with the circular economy model of Plug-in-City. The selected project will be exhibited during the Economia Festival (20-22 January 2017).

TOPIC :
Economia is a three day festival in which we collectively explore new ideas and thinking about our economy. The event is a laboratory for ideas, a place where we can step out of the existing frame. The aim of the festival is to approach economics in new ways and look at our economic system and society with the detached view of the visitor, researcher, gamer, alien and artist. We want to reclaim economy as a social/cultural structure that we created, ridding us of the idea of economics as an inevitable law of nature.
The artwork should focus on at least one of the following 5 topics: economy as evolution, economy as a game, economy as a fiction, economy as a market, economy as magic.

Economy as evolution: economics is about development and evolution. Societies develop and the direction they take is determined partly by the type of economic relationships they develop. Parallels are often drawn between these developments in culture and those in nature.

Economy as a game: economics is about rules and laws. Just like other types of relationships in the edifice of a society, an existing system of economic relationships adheres to certain laws and regulations. Gaming is about learning the laws and rules of a game so that you can play it better and better.

Economy as a fiction: economics is about ideas and faith. Credit has existed right from the start of societies, in the form of trust that A would pay B. Just as today, you would do a task for future reward in whatever form. Every form of economic relationship is an idea, or to put it better perhaps a prejudice. Which means it can change.

Economy as a market: economics is about supply and demand. The greatest and most misunderstood cliché. Demand and supply is a way to describe life. Each influences the other in an unpredictable and complex ways.

Economy as magic: economy is both tangible and invisible. We are familiar with two forms of trade, goods and money. The one that you can handle and the other that exists only in the form of ones and zeros. The latter seems like pure magic. It is with good reason that some of these 'financial wizards' call themselves 'Master of the universe'.

CONTEXT :
Plug-in-City (PiC) is a long-term creative community which is strongly based on the Dutch circular economy model: sharing knowledge, skills, materials and resources with the creative community of PiC. This creative city within the city of Eindhoven (in the core of Strijp-S), built from re-used shipping containers and planned to create a common ground and encourage collaboration.

APPLICATION PROCESS:
Proposals for the residency should contain a description of the art project (max 1 A4), with a minimum of 2 images and a link to a website referring to previously developed works. Selection of artworks will be based on quality, feasibility and the connection to the overall theme.
Please send your application together with your CV, and Chamber of Commerce number (or indenpendent registration number) to fc.plugincity@gmail.com