12-14 June 2020/ online
Suoja/ Shelter
Festival-Laboratory vol.3
online edition opens a call for video/ sound/ computer/ net/ performing art,
and artistic research
Festival-Laboratory vol.3
online edition opens a call for video/ sound/ computer/ net/ performing art,
and artistic research
The Suoja/Shelter Festival-Laboratory invites participants to propose projects for its Vol.3 2020*.
*Please, follow the link to read the Curatorial Statement.
Drawing on the concept of "really useful knowledge"[1] originating in radical educational movements of the early nineteenth-century England, when it signified a curriculum required for working class emancipation, and when education provided a model for collective "self-help" the Suoja /Shelter Festival-Laboratory will set up an online Knowledge Room to provide "really useful knowledge" and guide us, users of networked computational devices, towards to online sovereignty, before "knowledge itself disintegrates into the information generated by fully automated calculation, and into fixed capital, which, along with 'big data', forms the hyper-synchronized associated milieu – or what I call the digital Leviathan"[2]
Parallel to construction a room of "calculated knowledge", a Situation Room is being set up, without location, dispersed in the computational network, which provides the infrastructural, historical and conceptual basis of its existence. Situation Rooms emerge in crises to provide intelligence and support decision making processes of leaders, their history and existence is dependent on computation, thus tracing their origin leads one back to the Second World War, to the roots of cybernetics. Our online iteration of a Situation Room entails various forms of exchange, entanglements and Daseins.
Moving online, we are creating a space for performative experiments, discussions, immersive interactions; welcoming the diversity of artistic practices which can re-identify themselves for a digital space; offering to make it is a tryout with a prospect to continue working with the same topic, but on a bigger scale, during the future off-line event.
We believe that every safe space, including online spaces, can be only a temporary measure to surmount crisis and to gain strength to meet reality. The space emerging from our online connectedness is clearly not a utopia, and brings along open questions we will attempt to engage with in a non-hierarchical way.
_______________________________________
[1] "Really useful knowledge" is referred to in the context of contemporary art by an exhibition and a publication of the same title (curators: What, How & for Whom/WHW, 2014, Museo Reina Sofía Madrid).
[2] Bernard Stiegler, The Neganthropocene, Ed, translated, with an introduction by Daniel Ross, London: Open Humanities Press, 2018. 210.
*Please, follow the link to read the Curatorial Statement.
Drawing on the concept of "really useful knowledge"[1] originating in radical educational movements of the early nineteenth-century England, when it signified a curriculum required for working class emancipation, and when education provided a model for collective "self-help" the Suoja /Shelter Festival-Laboratory will set up an online Knowledge Room to provide "really useful knowledge" and guide us, users of networked computational devices, towards to online sovereignty, before "knowledge itself disintegrates into the information generated by fully automated calculation, and into fixed capital, which, along with 'big data', forms the hyper-synchronized associated milieu – or what I call the digital Leviathan"[2]
Parallel to construction a room of "calculated knowledge", a Situation Room is being set up, without location, dispersed in the computational network, which provides the infrastructural, historical and conceptual basis of its existence. Situation Rooms emerge in crises to provide intelligence and support decision making processes of leaders, their history and existence is dependent on computation, thus tracing their origin leads one back to the Second World War, to the roots of cybernetics. Our online iteration of a Situation Room entails various forms of exchange, entanglements and Daseins.
Moving online, we are creating a space for performative experiments, discussions, immersive interactions; welcoming the diversity of artistic practices which can re-identify themselves for a digital space; offering to make it is a tryout with a prospect to continue working with the same topic, but on a bigger scale, during the future off-line event.
We believe that every safe space, including online spaces, can be only a temporary measure to surmount crisis and to gain strength to meet reality. The space emerging from our online connectedness is clearly not a utopia, and brings along open questions we will attempt to engage with in a non-hierarchical way.
_______________________________________
[1] "Really useful knowledge" is referred to in the context of contemporary art by an exhibition and a publication of the same title (curators: What, How & for Whom/WHW, 2014, Museo Reina Sofía Madrid).
[2] Bernard Stiegler, The Neganthropocene, Ed, translated, with an introduction by Daniel Ross, London: Open Humanities Press, 2018. 210.
The Situation Room presents itself as an online laboratory accumulating live events and imposing three forms of control.
The first option is the Exclusive Situation: the audience has no opportunity to interfere. Technically it is implemented in the form of live broadcasting of a Zoom conference via YouTube Channel. The audience remains in the position of a passive spectator, whereas a full control on a situation remains on the side of a host.
The second option is the Moderated Situation: the audience can interfere in a guided way. Technically it is designed through either a conference format in Zoom or via embedded systems allowing the audience to interact. The control is shared between the host and the audience but is still moderated.
The third option is the Inclusive Situation: the host and the audience have equal opportunities to communicate. Technically it is done via launching the numerous online meetings. The Inclusive Situation can encompass up to five Open Rooms simultaneously which the audience can choose or join several at once. Even if a host has a right to launch a situation, later on, it becomes uncontrolled and unmoderated. It is up to all participants, what they decide to do together, how they proceed and finish.
The Knowledge Room exists as a database of miscellaneous information in forms of video, audio, texts, embedded systems, etc. All the documentation of the events happened in the Situation Room will become a part of the Knowledge Room.
Every host can launch own meeting with or without a certain plan of action. It can be a seance of meditation, a bar, nocturnal gardening, mix-tape session, or doing nothing. The audience receives an invitation to the Zoom rooms and is free to decide its own involvement in activities.
We collect video-works of any length, using Vimeo or YouTube player, or embedding HTML-codes.
We collect audio-works of any length, using SoundCloud, or embedding HTML-codes.
We collect textual works of any length, in forms of PDF's which will be uploaded to our Cloud and remain free for downloading.
We outline the framework of our thematic call by creating a list of terms.
We collect a database of additional materials, links, hints, and everything which can become valuable and contribute to the really useful knowledge.
We collect interactive-works, any forms of computer-art or net-art and placing them by embedding HTML-codes or putting links.
Every host can launch own meeting with or without a certain plan of action. It can be a seance of meditation, a bar, nocturnal gardening, mix-tape session, or doing nothing. The audience receives an invitation to the Zoom rooms and is free to decide its own involvement in activities.
Every host can launch own meeting with or without a certain plan of action. It can be a seance of meditation, a bar, nocturnal gardening, mix-tape session, or doing nothing. The audience receives an invitation to the Zoom rooms and is free to decide its own involvement in activities.
Every host can launch own meeting with or without a certain plan of action. It can be a seance of meditation, a bar, nocturnal gardening, mix-tape session, or doing nothing. The audience receives an invitation to the Zoom rooms and is free to decide its own involvement in activities.
Every host can launch own meeting with or without a certain plan of action. It can be a seance of meditation, a bar, nocturnal gardening, mix-tape session, or doing nothing. The audience receives an invitation to the Zoom rooms and is free to decide its own involvement in activities.
Situation Room
Knowledge Room
Exclusive Situation
Moderated Situation
Inclusive Situation
Video
Audio
Glossary
Essays
Interactive
Miscellaneous
Open Room
Open Room
Open Room
Open Room
Open Room
The call is closed.
"The closer one comes to the "sharp-end", to the point where the data really originates, the more difficult the task it seems to be to put things into a manageable form." ― ARPA Data Base Project Report, n.d.
GUIDELINES
- A proposal letter must match the conceptual direction and envision of a curatorial statement and take into account the online format. Extra consideration will be given to disarming creativity and irrestrainable experimentation.
- An artist/ researcher can be of any nationality and country of residence, but be aware of the cultural and political processes of Scandinavian countries, Russia, Baltic Region, Eastern and Central Europe.
- An artist/ researcher shall orient the whole program to be implemented in an online format.
- Extra consideration will be given to ones in the beginning stages of their careers.
WHAT INCLUDES
- 3-days online festival on the 12-14th of June 2020.
- The festival is run via Zoom (the festival's account hosts 300 participants at once) and the festival's landing page.
- Opportunity to choose a form of participation. 1. in the Situation Room on can choose to participate in the Exclusive or Moderated Situations (mandatory); and in the Inclusive Situations (optionally), and 2. to propose works for the Knowledge Room (optionally).
- Opportunity to participate in a public programming, encompassing directories of: sound and performance art, video and moving image, computer art, net art, artistic research and education.
- up to 200 euro* unrestricted honorarium (the fee depends on media/ amount of time and work).
- Press materials and PR support.
are welcome to apply on a free basis
SELECTION PROCESS
- The shortlist selection will be made by June 4. After the first selections, the applicants will be contacted for further clarification. The final selection will be made by June 7.
- All applicants will be notified of results by the 8th of June 2020.
- The Festival pays a big attention to the principles of inclusivity and diversity.
SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
- A proposal letter:
- Should contain a conceptual direction and envision of a proposed topic.
- Should be submitted in two versions: up to 1000 characters and up to 4000 characters.
- Artist's/ researcher's BIO (1000 characters).
- Artist's/ researcher's portrait (b/w, 1500 px on a longer side).
- Artist's/ researcher's CV (PDF, 2 pages maximum).
- Artist's/ researcher's portfolio of realised projects (PDF, 10 pages maximum, 5MB).
- A full presentation of a main proposal (to the Situation Room: Exclusive/ Moderated Situation) with illustrations, drafts, sketches, links, etc. (PDF, 5 pages maximum, 5MB). IMAGES (2-4): artist name, artwork title, year, medium, dimensions, additional description. VIDEO/AUDIO: please provide URL links for video and time-based work. Vimeo is better for video. Soundcloud is preferred for the audio + password, artist name, artwork title, year, duration, additional description.
- A full presentation of an additional proposal (optional) to the Situation Room: Inclusive Situation with illustrations, drafts, sketches, links, etc. (PDF, 5 pages maximum, 5MB).
- A full presentation of an additional proposal (optional) to the Knowledge Room with illustrations, drafts, sketches, links, etc. (PDF, 5 pages maximum, 5MB).
- The working language of the Festival is English.
- Due to constrained circumstances, the online edition of the festival is focusing on live performances, lectures-performances, various forms of media art and new media art which can be integrated and accessed online. We are not pursuing a goal to repeat or recreate any offline exhibition formal neither visually, nor conceptually.
"What would hold society together in the absence of the rules and rituals of clan and kin? Durkheim's answer was the division of labor." ― Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 2018
The call is closed.
"Any time you feel the need to act, then all you have to do is actuate a fear.
The production of the effect follows as smoothly as a reflex. This affective
dynamic is still very much in place." ― Brian Massumi, Potential Politics and the Primacy of Preemption, 2007
The production of the effect follows as smoothly as a reflex. This affective
dynamic is still very much in place." ― Brian Massumi, Potential Politics and the Primacy of Preemption, 2007
Suoja/ Shelter is a 3-day international annual festival-laboratory, which is held in the bomb-shelter in the centre of Helsinki. We invite artists, performers, musicians, educators to comprehend the "shelter" in all its hypostases, forms and manifestations.
Shelter as a refuge from the threat and shelter as an indicator of the existence of a threat. Shelter as underground for marginal or as a privilege for the elite. Shelter as a transfer point, compelled communal living, a model of society in miniature, a safe space for the gathering of like-minded people. Shelter as a burrow, shelter as a den, shelter as the last asylum, shelter as a new beginning. Located within the global rock of the capitalist world, the shelter is represented in the present while at the same time is hidden from it. Therefore, it is from within the shelter that we can overcome the rhetoric of the "Cold War" and the creative logic of cognitive capitalism by imagining a world of new affects, a new tenderness, sensitivity, and non-toxic communication.
This year, we decided to radically change the format, and obtain shelters in our own homes. This separation cannot break artistic solidarity and pushes us to retrieve new ways to manifest artistic creativity. We believe, the online presence of art - is a tool, but not an answer. We hope to return to the offline format sooner or later.
Shelter as a refuge from the threat and shelter as an indicator of the existence of a threat. Shelter as underground for marginal or as a privilege for the elite. Shelter as a transfer point, compelled communal living, a model of society in miniature, a safe space for the gathering of like-minded people. Shelter as a burrow, shelter as a den, shelter as the last asylum, shelter as a new beginning. Located within the global rock of the capitalist world, the shelter is represented in the present while at the same time is hidden from it. Therefore, it is from within the shelter that we can overcome the rhetoric of the "Cold War" and the creative logic of cognitive capitalism by imagining a world of new affects, a new tenderness, sensitivity, and non-toxic communication.
This year, we decided to radically change the format, and obtain shelters in our own homes. This separation cannot break artistic solidarity and pushes us to retrieve new ways to manifest artistic creativity. We believe, the online presence of art - is a tool, but not an answer. We hope to return to the offline format sooner or later.
"[t]echnology is […] no mere means. Technology is a way of revealing." ― Martin Heidegger, The Question Concerning Technology, 1954
