An open call for submissions for SaveArtSpace: Fragments of Content, co-curated by Maggie Dunlap
VCS student Maggie Dunlap has forwarded us a call for submissions for SaveArtSpace: Fragments of Content, an upcoming exhibition that she’s co-curating along with two other curators. Here are her comments on the project, followed by details about the show from SaveArtSpace:
I have been asked to co-curate an art exhibition for the organization Save Art Space (founded by two SVA grads) for their upcoming show about the internet. Their mission is to support up-and-coming artists by holding an exhibit in the Lower East Side as well as giving each artist in the show their own BILLBOARD or ad space (think phone booths, bus stops, etc.)
They are holding an open call for submissions and myself and two other curators will select the works for the exhibition. This is a great opportunity and I’d love to see some vcs students work in this show!
SaveArtSpace brings more public art to New York City, showcasing artists on advertising spaces throughout the area beginning December 4, 2017. The selected artists will also be exhibited at The Living Gallery Outpost, with an opening reception on December 13, 2017.
SaveArtSpace: Fragments of Content is a new exhibition that aims to investigate the representative and interpretive nature of how the Internet has changed our perceptions of the world around us. Living in a digital age, we are faced with a constant interconnectivity, exposing us to an abundance and overflux of knowledge, imagery and stimuli. This experience of constant simulacra begs the question of all its participants: are we responsible for determining whether technology will enhance or destroy our society? While we simultaneously form new pathways and devise solutions to create progress using technology and connectivity, are we also alienating and disconnecting from our shared cultural values through our broadband connections?
Since its emergence as the key form of communication in the late 20th and early 21st century, the Internet has defined itself as both a tool and a weapon of Western Culture. It can concurrently deliver information at the speed of thought, but it can also use that information problematically, fashioning a cudgel that bludgeons nuance and depth just as quickly. Data mining, unwarranted mass surveillance, advertising, hacking, online warfare—all of these go hand in hand with the freedom of information and the ability and access to networks beyond our physical realms. The Internet has long been a space where artists have responded to these questions and engaged with it as medium and site of influence, creating new expressions and experiences that both question and inform us of how our IRL lives are now deeply intertwined with our URL existence. Fragments of Content seeks to use the digital medium of the Internet, manifest in the physical world, to explore this liminality in our shared experience online, examining the juxtaposition of how rich and valuable the Internet can be and how dangerous and deceptive it can become at the click of a link.
We invite all artists of all ages & talents to submit! Artists are invited to apply between September 18th and November 10, 2017. There is a $10 fee per image, each donation is tax deductable and goes to producing public art! Only digital format entries will be eligible, each artist is encouraged to submit up to 10 images.
An qualified panel of curators will consider each submission’s pertinence to the theme of the exhibition, the context of the images and association to the public space. The curators are Devin Ohanian of The DNA Life; Alexandria Hodkins, & Joseph Meloy of The Living Gallery Outpost; and Independent Curator, Maggie Dunlap.
All submissions will be featured on SaveArtSpace social media pages with the permission of the artist.
SaveArtSpace has held previous Public Art Exhibitions in New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, Louisville, and Golden, Co.
