Call for Artists “…Louder than Bombs”: Art, Action & Activism

STANLEY PICKER GALLERY & LIVE ART DEVELOPMENT AGENCY

Over the course of seven weeks in February/March 2010, the Stanley Picker Gallery at Kingston University, will hand over its entire exhibition space to host a series of week-long residencies entitled “…Louder than Bombs”: Art, Action & Activism.

Co-curated with Live Art Development Agency, London, “…Louder than Bombs”: Art, Action & Activism will focus on challenging social/political/global issues addressed through seven invited artist/activist’s individual working practices and the Gallery audience’s direct participation and responding involvement through an integrated programme of public workshops and live events.

Its title borrowed from a compilation album by 80’s anti-establishment beaus The Smiths (in turn borrowed from Elizabeth Smart’s extended prose poem By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept), “…Louder than Bombs” invites seven artists, artist-activists, or artist-groups for a series of weekly occupancies to deliver work that expresses their creative response around a chosen issue. The issues addressed by the programme of activities will include a range of political, ecological, social and personal causes, as to be defined by the seven participating individuals and groups. The programme will provide each participating artist/group with the space, resources and supportive environment for their work to be developed over an intensive five-day period. During their week-long residency each participant will be required to deliver at least one participatory workshop and a public event/s. The entire programme will recorded through photographic documentation and a concluding interview with each participant, that will aim to reflect critically upon their direct involvement in the overall programme.

In addition to the above, one of the seven invited projects will be developed to engage directly with a local primary school, in order to pilot the introduction of performative practice into the classroom.

“…Louder than Bombs” Art, Action & Activism has been developed as an extended element of an ongoing collaborative research project entitled The Art of Intervention: The Intersections of Public and Private Memory between Kingston University, London and Kyoto Seika University, Japan.
To propose your participation in the “…Louder than Bombs” Art, Action & Activism programme please provide the following information:

* A statement (maximum 1,000 words) outlining your chosen issue and describing how you would envisage developing and delivering your proposed workshop activity and public event, including an initial indication of the resources, equipment and materials you may require for your activity. You may want to suggest targeting your activities at particular audience sectors or age groups. Only if appropriate to your practice, please state in what ways your activity would also be suitable for a pilot project aimed at primary school pupils.

* A CV including up to 5 web-references to view online examples and/or documentation of your practice to date.

Please email your proposals to [email protected] by Midday on Friday 4th December 2009.

Selected applicants will be notified by Friday 18th December with a view to commencing preparations for their period of residency in January 2010.

All participating individuals/groups will receive a fixed-fee and expenses for their involvement in the overall programme. Additional funds will be made available for the associated schools programme.