Deadline: 23:59 (CET) on Friday 29th April 2022. 

Biased AI in facial recognition that fails to recognise people of colour, social media  platforms that sell your data and your children’s data, digital illiteracy of elderly  people, and excluding technologies for people with a disability: the digital divide and  lack of inclusivity is a pressing problem in developing digital technologies.

We believe that art and artists can provide critical insights, reflections, interventions, connections, and imaginations in tackling these economic-socio-politico-cultural issues related to the development and use/misuse of digital technologies.

Open call for new artworks

We are calling for new works of art that address three major concerns of the  research of Artsformation: the crisis of democracy, privacy and surveillance, and new  ways of work.

WHAT KIND OF PROJECT

• We are looking for artists or collectives that explore how the arts provide  critical insights, methods, and imaginations for tackling social inequalities,  social injustice, unequally distributed digital literacies and resources, and  threats to democracy and democratic processes as a consequence of the  digital transformation.
• We look for projects that address the themes of algorithmic Control and  surveillance, ways of Refusal and resistance, Rebuilding of Trust and  rendering Care. A previous event on these four themes can be found here.
• We look for projects that tackle pressing contemporary issues such as  disinformation in pandemic and war time.
• To name two examples: we’re currently working with artists Tomo Kihara and  Caroline Sinders. Tomo created a playful artwork TheirTube that bursts filter  bubbles on Youtube. Caroline has been working on a Feminist Data Set that  challenges the biases of AI and interrogates every step of the AI process with  intersectional feminist framework.

HOW WE WILL SUPPORT YOUR PROJECT

1. Waag will support the production of two selected proposals with an artist fee  and production costs of €5.000. This will be paid in two instalments: € 2.500  will be paid when signing the agreement of collaboration, €2.500 when the  artwork is delivered.
2. The work must be produced by the artist/collective within the established time  frame, before 30th September.
3. The final project will be exhibited in at least one offline and one online  exhibition curated by Waag, during 2022 & 2023. The artworks will belong to  the artists and they are free to exhibit them afterwards, with credit to Waag  and Artsformation.
4. The project and artist(s) will be promoted through Waag’s and Artsformation’s channels.

CONDITIONS

• This call is open to individuals or groups with diverse backgrounds working  across any art forms and/or technologies in Europe. Works that can be shown  digitally are also welcome from outside of Europe.
• The proposed project can be online and/or offline.
• Applicants should either have an established background in their respective  fields and/or explain how this opportunity will assist the development of a new  project.
• We especially welcome proposals for new work. The work should be ready  and submitted for exhibition on 30th september 2022.

CRITERIA & RELEVANCE

The Jury of the Artsformation International Advisory Board will select projects  according to the following criteria.

• How does the art project address the Artsformation matters of concern and  themes?
• What artistic-societal engagements with the audience or participants does the  art project want to create?
• With which communities does the artist/collective want to work with in this  project? How to engage them?
• Implementation details: Is the plan for your work plausible and feasible?

DEADLINE & HOW TO APPLY

Applications must be received by 23:59 (CET) on Friday 29th April 2022. Complete  application must include the following:

1. Project Proposal – detailing the project concept, maximum 500 words 2. Support Material – any relevant urls, visuals (data flow, sketches, timeline,  schematics, etc.) that will help us better understand the proposal
2. Implementation plan- maximum 1 A4 page explaining how to realise the  proposal
3. CV– including contact information. Maximum 2 A4 pages
4. Four examples of previous work. Include note to each work of up to 150  words, including at least “Name of artwork/project/exhibition”, Gallery  Name/Exhibition Space/Event, City and Country, Year
5. For >5MB attachments, please use file transfer services like Wetransfer or provide a link to your own server space.

Do you want to know if your work is suitable for this call? At 11:00 CET 8th April, we  will host an open call Q&A that first explains the project and open call and then  allows you to ask questions. Stay tuned and check Waag’s and Artsformation social media!

APPLY NOW