PIXILERATIONS [V.5]: Fragments & (W)Holes
A festival of digital media and interactive performance
[part of the FirstWorksProv festival]
October 2 – 12, 2008 in Providence, Rhode Island
CALL FOR WORKS! PIXILERATIONS [V.5] invites artists, musicians and film/video makers to submit work that investigates connections or disparities between fragments and (w)holes.
THE SUBMISSION PERIOD FOR WORK IS APRIL 1- MAY 1, 2008.
Pixilerations is a New Media festival in Providence, Rhode Island that investigates the state of New Media arts through installations, concert performance and film/video screenings. The festival is part of the larger FirstWorksProv festival (www.firstworksprov.org), Providence’s multidimensional fall performing arts festival. Pixilerations is produced by FirstWorks in collaboration with the Rhode Island School of Design, Brown University and MIT.
Now in its fifth year, Pixilerations showcases groundbreaking work in digital music and art. Last year’s festival, Pixilerations [v.4]: story +/- ornament, presented innovative works by over seventy artists from the United States, Germany, France, South Africa and the Netherlands, and featured guest artists Myriam Thyes, Jon Orentlicher, and Skif++.
PIXILERATIONS [V.5] THEME: FRAGMENTS & (W)HOLES
Consciously and unconsciously our world view has been altered by the quantum mechanical view of the world; a world composed of discrete waves and particles. This minute level of physical investigation, developed first by Werner Heisenberg and Max Planck, is one of the means by which we have broken the world down in order to make sense of the whole from its parts. This dissection has been explored through the tools of psychoanalysis pioneered by Freud, Pavlov’s behavioral studies and the recent efforts of
cognitive science to understand human psychology and the latest conjuring of artificial intelligence. Artists have reflected this fragmented world with its mind/body split since the 1900’s with the early collages of Picasso and the psychological works of the Surrealists. The digital realm is developing its own paradigm for separating and putting the world together. How has the fragmentary view created deeper holes, how has it allowed us to see the whole with sharper eyes and minds? How do artists shape their world, with fragments of life or with (w)holistic views?
VISUAL ART WORKS
Submissions will be accepted in three categories:
1. Installations & Gallery works: Installations will be mounted at the Sol Koffler Gallery in the Rhode Island School of Design’s Center of Integrative Technology Building, and an additional alternative gallery space in downtown Providence, to be announced at a later date. Works will be installed in spaces with visual – but not acoustic – separation. Care should be taken when planning and installing your work to minimize the impact of audio/video bleed on the work of other participating artists. Artists must provide their own technology resources whenever possible (including power strips & extension cords). A limited amount of the equipment may be available upon explicit request (excluding computers or monitors).
2. Video works:
a. Video works will be screened at the Cable Car Cinema in collaboration with the Magic Lantern Experimental Film Collaboration the week of October 5. Please limit your submission to 15 minutes. Pixilerations would prefer video works to be in NTSC format if possible
b. Do you have minute?: Multimedia projected works one minute or less in duration will be screened continuously in one of the galleries, and also at the film/video screening hosted in collaboration with the Magic Lantern Experimental Film Collaborative. Pixilerations would prefer video works to be in NTSC format if possible
c. Microcinema: While the term ‘microcinema’ has been in use for several decades connoting an underground practice, first referring to 8mm and super8 film, then later digitally edited video, all distributed to marginal and ‘alternative’ venues, it has of late acquired a new meaning. With the advent of small digital display screens and limited memory accommodating smaller ‘films’, microcinema has found a new direction and aesthetic. It is a hand-held cinema: new works rely heavily on the close-up, sound limited to stereo, shorter time spans for the new audience of one. It is the personal, downloadable, portable cinema that we propose to showcase in a small screen viewing room and, where possible, downloadable to personal viewing devices. Please limit your submission to 15 minutes, and submit works as QuickTime files.
PERFORMANCE WORKS
Submissions will be accepted in four categories:
1. Interactive performance works incorporating real-time music and/or video, with or without acoustic instruments.
Pixilerations [v.5] Call4Works
2. Interactive performance works for dance and real-time music and/or video.
3. Sound-only acousmatic/radiophonic works, in stereo or 5.1. (NOTE: All works must be submitted in stereo for judging purposes.)
NOTE: Pixilerations is unable to provide performers – it is up to the submitting artist to provide all necessary performers.
A concert 5.1 sound system and computer projection will be provided for the two interactive performance evenings. Additional equipment (microphones, monitors, etc.) will also be provided. Composers accepted with 5.1 acousmatic pieces will have the following options for playback: DVD (DVD-A, or DVD-V with Dolby or DTS encoding), or clearly labeled AIFF/WAV sound files.
When submitting your piece, please note your preference for one of the following performance dates:
ClubPixil performance will be held October 2, 2008. Experimental electronic performances in a club-like venue. (Note: if your work requires a quiet atmosphere, please choose Oct. 11 or 12 as date preference). Concert performances will be held October 10 & 11, 2008. These performances will be held at the URI Sheppard Building Auditorium.
SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
THE SUBMISSION PERIOD FOR WORK IS APRIL 1- MAY 1, 2008.
Details on the submission process will be posted on www.pixilerations.org on April 1.
All applicants must complete an online submission form on the Pixilerations website.
Applicants are invited to submit a total of two works for consideration. A separate application for each works is required.
Funding: please note that, regretfully, Pixilerations does not have financial resources to fund selected artists.
Contact: clara[at]FirstWorksProv.org