Spectacles of the Real: Truth and Representation in Art and Literature
CALL FOR ARTISTS
OPENSOURCE Art
& the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities
Champaign-Urbana, Illinois
March 2-31 2006
matthart@uiuc.edu
OPENSOURCE Art has joined with the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities (IPRH) to create Spectacles of the Real: Truth and Representation in Art and Literature. Investigating the relation between realism, the “real,” and the image; philosophical realism and the idea of artistic truth; and the resurgence of realism in art and literature, this series of exhibitions and talks will combine IPRH's acknowledged strengths in humanities scholarship with OPENSOURCE's burgeoning reputation as a site for innovative art and curatorial practice.
Deadline for artist proposals: Feb 1, 2006
Exhibitions open: March 2, 2006
Talks Series
Spectacles of the Real will feature three talks and two visual art exhibitions. The first talk will present Larry Rinder, Dean of Graduate Studies at California College of the Arts and formerly Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Curator of Contemporary Art at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. Hamza Walker, curator and Director of Education at the Renaissance Society, University of Chicago, will lead the second. The third and final event will be a panel discussion on literary and philosophical approaches to realism and the real, chaired by Joseph Valente, author of important studies of the novel such as James Joyce and the Problem of Justice and Unlocking Dracula’s Crypt.
Exhibitions
At the heart of Spectacles of the Real are two concurrent art exhibitions that will explore the meaning and limits of realism and its spectacular manifestations, functioning alongside the talks as critical interventions in their own right. OPENSOURCE and IPRH therefore wish to receive submissions from artists with an interest in any and all manifestations of realism and the real. We wish to receive submissions from artists working in new or traditional representational practices, from photographers and documentary film makers engaged in recording contemporary historical events, and from artists—working in any media—whose work challenges the formal or ideological assumptions behind the discourse of verisimilitude. We are especially interested in art that has an activist or political content, but we will be similarly happy to include work that is largely formal (even formalist) in its ambitions.
Schedule
February 1, 2006 – Submission deadline
February 7, 2006 – Notification of acceptances
February 23, 2006 – Artwork due at OPENSOURCE
March 2, 2006 – Shows open
Submission guidelines
Please submit a proposal that includes documentation, installation information, and contact information. Documentation may be in the form of, but not limited to: sketches, slides, video, CD or DVD. Please be clear about what, if any, multi-media equipment your work requires. OPENSOURCE and IPRH have a limited budget for installation and exhibition expenses, so will not be able to admit art that is expensive or excessively difficult to install, no matter how much we'd like to. Supporting materials (vita, portfolio, statement) are not necessary, but would be helpful.
Because it also functions as a public lecture and meeting place, the exhibition at IPRH will feature wall-mounted work that extends no more than 6 inches from the plane of the wall. There are no such limitations on the work that can be shown at OPENSOURCE.
Proposals may be sent via postal service, email, or delivered in person to:
OPENSOURCE Art
12 E. Washington
Champaign, Illinois 61820
If you would like your proposal returned, please include a self-addressed package with sufficient return postage. Accepted works must include return packaging and proper postage. Materials that cannot be returned will be considered donations to OPENSOURCE. OPENSOURCE is not responsible for lost or damaged material.
Curatorial Process
Both shows will be juried by a committee drawn from the members of OPENSOURCE Art and the directors of the IPRH, with decisions made by majority vote. Any work submitted by members (or family members) of the committee will be voted on by the full OPENSOURCE membership and the directors of IPRH, with interested parties recusing themselves. Specific works are likely to be solicited from individual artists, and some flexibility may be exercised for these entries with regard to scheduling.
For more information, please email Matt Hart at matthart@uiuc.edu, or check www.opensource.boxwith.com
