Call for Participation – MWX 2015 Chicago
This is a call for proposals from artists, collectives, and venues for projects to be presented at MWX, an exhibition held in conjunction with Museums and the Web, the international museum technology conference. MWX and Museums and the Web will take place this year from April 7-11, 2015, in Chicago.
Submissions:
Submit your proposal directly to Vince Dziekan [vince.dziekan@monash.edu] or Susan Chun [schun@mcachicago.org].
Application deadline: Friday, February 13, 9 p.m. EST
This year, MWX will explore the idea of pop ups and festivals to look at how temporary exhibitions and ephemeral events might inform museum practice.
Developed by Vince Dziekan in collaboration with a team of Chicago-based museum professionals, MWX 2015 will highlight local artists who combine new media experimentation with a “pop up” aesthetic directed towards novel, public forms of cultural activation. Drawing inspiration from Chicago’s transformation into the “White City” during the celebrated world’s fair of 1893, the exhibition will emphasize “incidental” experiences of light and artistic intervention.
Locations:
MWX 2015 will take place in downtown Chicago, in and around the historic Palmer House Hotel, the Museums and the Web conference venue. Projects can be proposed anywhere in the Millennium Park/Magnificent Mile area. We encourage you to think creatively about Chicago’s monuments, architecture, parks, and infrastructure. If you have a project that needs a location, our curatoriate will be happy to chat with you about an appropriate venue. If you’re a venue willing to host a project, please get in touch.
Call for Proposals:
We invite you to propose a project of any medium that can be produced in the downtown Chicago neighborhood. Projects of varying durations are encouraged, from brief performances to dusk-to-dawn projections to multi-day installations.
The MWX curatoriate will pursue projects for the exhibit based on artistic quality, appropriateness for this year’s theme, accessibility, and feasibility.
Requirements and Budget:
Artists will be responsible for their own equipment, set up, and installation. MWX may be able to provide some logistical support or staffing: if support is needed, please describe specific requirements in your proposal. Unfortunately, there is currently no financial support available for artists and presenters, but participating artists can be assured of an engaged and curious audience of the museum community’s best respected and most knowledgeable creatives and influencers.
The MWX 2015 Curatoriate
• Vince Dziekan, Director of Program, Graduate Research in Design, MADA, Monash University, Melbourne Australia; Curator, MWX
• Susan Chun, Chief Content Officer, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago; Publisher, Museums and the Web
• Liz Neely, formerly Director of Digital Information and Access, Art Institute of Chicago
• Abraham Ritchie, Social Media Manager, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
What is MWX?
Museums and the Web is the leading international forum for museum professionals in the field of museum technology. Its annual conference provides an important showcase for the latest digital advancements taking place across the cultural heritage sector. Until recently, presentations have consisted primarily of academic papers and workshops presented in a traditional conference format. Inaugurated in 2013, MWX provides an alternative platform for highlighting the state of the art through an exhibition program showcasing innovative, contemporary art practices by artists using creative technology.
MWX is curated by Vince Dziekan. Working closely with MW conference chairs Nancy Proctor and Rich Cherry, MWX’s curatorial approach aspires to add an engaging but thought-provoking dimension to the conference experience. For MW2014 in Baltimore, MWX featured one of the most influential artists of our generation, Jenny Holzer. Attendees encountered Holzer’s “Truisms” throughout the conference in unexpected and surprising ways as part of a customized app-based experience designed in collaboration with the software firm STQRY. In addition, a series of interactive micro-performances lead by experimental composer Dan Deacon was presented at the MW2014 opening event at the Baltimore Museum of Art. For the MWX inaugural exhibition—staged at MW2013 in Portland—MWX focused on augmented reality by presenting site-specific public artworks by John Craig Freeman and Will Pappenheimer, along with an augmented reality “event” co-produced with artist collective Future of Reality. MWX was preceded by an intervention in the MW2012 exhibition by Halsey Burgund that featured the location-aware, crowdsourced mobile experience, Hotel Dreamy [http://halseyburgund.com/work/hd/].
In addition to the exhibition of new media artwork, MWX also curates a strand of the conference program. These special papers sessions, forums, lightning talks, and collaborative projects aim to present unique insights into transformative practice while offering fresh propositions for cultural curating. The main forum convened at MW2014 was dedicated to shaping a collective vision for digital heritage education and professional development (titled “The Baltimore Principles”), while a colloquium focusing on graduate research is planned for 2015.
