Submit a Project
The 2012 FIGMENT JXN call for participation deadline has been extended to April 10!
Call for Participation:
FIGMENT JXN APRIL 28-29 2012
MIDTOWN ARTS DISTRICT
Founded in 2007 on New York City’s Governors Island, what began as a few thousand enthusiasts enjoying a handful of participatory art projects on a sunny July afternoon has ballooned into a multi-day, multi-city event that drew over 30,000 participants in NYC, Boston, Jackson and Detroit in 2011. In 2012, FIGMENT seeks to continue its mission to offer free, inclusive and participatory art to entire communities, removing the barriers of museum and gallery walls and entrance fees and blurring the lines between those who create and those who enjoy art.
FIGMENT embodies the belief that everyone can make something of artistic value and that the arts can build a community of our best selves. We’re looking for artists who embrace those ideals to help us continue FIGMENT in its Southern setting.
We are excited to announce that FIGMENT is now open for art project submissions for the second FIGMENT Jackson Weekend! FIGMENT Jackson 2012 will take place during the weekend of April 28-29.
As the state capital, Jackson is the focal point of Mississippi’s economy and government. It also plays a central role in the state’s history — its culture, musical heritage and civil-rights legacy. Like most urban centers, the city of 180,000 has suffered some disinvestment over the past decades, but a scrappy and diverse music scene and an arts scene that prizes collaboration have kept the heart of Jackson beating.
FIGMENT Jackson will take place in the Midtown Arts District. With a variety of buildings and vacant lots 4 acres, the site can accommodate practically any artistic vision. The Midtown Arts District is located in the North Midtown neighborhood, with its central node at Millsaps Avenue and its boundaries expanding as the participants require. The city and neighborhood has plans to redevelop much of the area, and we see FIGMENT as a way to bring the vitality of art and collaboration to the area’s future.
The 2nd FIGMENT Jackson is an ongoing two-day event designed to promote spontaneous collaboration, active communication, and significant fun. Scheduled artists will commingle with contributors bringing unplanned commissions to the site, and a series of music acts will perform throughout the duration of the event.
The curators of FIGMENT Jackson invite proposals for interactive art of all mediums from local and regional artists, as well as artists across the United States and internationally. From installation, to performance art, to dance and video, FIGMENT Jackson hopes to showcase a diverse range of interactive and collaborative works. Selected works will highlight FIGMENT principles such as inclusion, self-reliance, participation, and decommodification. Some funding may be available for select projects and certain proposals may be invited to remain in Jackson as permanent installations.
Before you submit your proposal for an interactive project to FIGMENT JXN, please take a moment to read the FIGMENT JXN 2012 Participant Tips & Tricks Guide and the information on this page – to give you the necessary guidelines to submit your project as FIGMENT-worthy as possible!
To Submit a Proposal:
1 Submit your art project by 11:59pm ET on APRIL 10, 2012, by filling out the questionnaire. The earlier you submit your project, the more personal attention you will get from our Curatorial Team! So don’t wait until March 30 to fill out the questionnaire.
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2 We will start notifying registered artists by April 7, 2012 if their project has been selected to be part of FIGMENT Jackson Weekend 2012.
3 As soon as we have accepted your project, we will hook you up with one of our FIGMENT Curators. He or she will be your contact, guiding light and trouble-shooter in the time leading up to and throughout FIGMENT Weekend.
Entries are encouraged from individuals or teams of any age or experience level, provided they are prepared to carry out the project.
Proposal Criteria:
FIGMENT participants can choose to enter their submission in one of the categories covering two main fields: Performance and Installation — or, simply put, People and Things. Projects can include but are not limited to: installations, games, workshops, (roving) performances, multimedia, electronic art, music.
Your FIGMENT Weekend project can be submitted by an individual or group of individuals. Projects will be selected based on creativity, interactivity, structural integrity, sustainability, feasibility, budget, and community involvement:
- Creativity: Your piece should be visually stunning and wildly innovative. Your proposal should state a clear concept, theme or central idea.
- Interactivity: Your project MUST provide for ongoing interactivity and participation from visitors to FIGMENT Weekend. This could be as simple as a way visitors can move, influence, or play with your art, or simply involving the audience in your performance. It could also involve transforming, adding to, or fundamentally altering the art project over the course of the weekend. In the questionnaire, please be sure to fully explain how your project will be participatory and engage visitors at FIGMENT.
- Structural Integrity: This is not a traditional art event. When you design a piece for FIGMENT Weekend imagine that it will be climbed on by 15 children at a time, kicked, walked on, etc. – for 8 hours a day, for 2 consecutive days. If it rains, there is limited shelter, and water will gather in low-lying areas. Keeping that in mind, build for the apocalypse and consider a modular design for ease of transport and installation and de-installation. Although we have not had acts of intentional vandalism, anything that moves, is shiny or removable will be played with and pulled on in ways you did not imagine. Also when thinking about your submission, think about how your project will affect other projects. Is it noisy? Does it require quiet? Does it have the potential to be messy? Finally, remember that all artists must adhere to The Midtown Arts District’s guidelines and rules, with regard to historic and environmental presentation and general safety.
- Context and Impact: When thinking about your submission, especially when you are bringing a performance to the island, think about how your project will affect other projects. Is it noisy? Does it require quiet? Does it have the potential to be messy? See the FIGMENT JXN 2012 Participant Tips & Tricks Guide.
- Sustainability: Please consider your materials carefully. Where do they come from? Where will they go after the weekend is over? Given the temporary nature of any installation, if possible please consider creating your work from found waste materials, or from materials that can be temporarily appropriated and then reused after the installation. One of FIGMENT’s main principles is Leave no Trace. We are committed to leaving no physical trace of our activities wherever we gather. Be prepared and committed to clean up your art project after FIGMENT Weekend is done, to leave The Midtown Arts District in a better state than you found it.
- Feasibility: Please note that you will be responsible for the design, construction, maintenance, installation, execution and de-installation of your project. All weekend projects will be installed at The Midtown Arts District between April 22 – 30. Projects must be designed to be disassembled. De-installation will occur from Saturday, April 28 through Monday, April 30. Your proposal MUST include a cleanup plan. Artists are solely responsible for the successful installation and de-installation of their projects.
- Budget: Think carefully about the materials that you will be using to create your project. Since FIGMENT is a completely volunteer run organization and event, we are unable to supply materials and there is no funding available for material stipends. We encourage artists to seek outside sources of funding.
- Community Involvement: FIGMENT is a large-scale participatory arts project that is created by a diverse community of volunteers. We look forward to your being a part of this community, and to volunteering to help make the FIGMENT event and exhibitions happen.
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Please address any questions to JXNcuratorial@figmentproject.org.
We encourage you to consider the following before submitting your project proposal:
- Drawing inspiration from other community-based arts events, the development, production, and experience of FIGMENT are guided by 11 principles, one of which is DECOMMODIFICATION. FIGMENT seeks to create social environments that are unmediated by commercial sponsorships, transactions, or advertising. We will not substitute consumption for experience. For all 11 Principles of FIGMENT, click here.
- What type of location would suit your project? Pavement? A warehouse space? The Midtown Arts District has indoor and outdoor space. You may request a type of location; however, precise placement of projects is at the discretion of the FIGMENT planning team.
- Artists will work with their assigned curator to realize their project; your curator will answer any questions you might have during the course of preparing for, installing and de-installing your project.
- Artists must plan to personally be on site during any days in which their project is on site.
- Artists are responsible for any volunteers needed during the weekend, or for installation or de-installation. FIGMENT staff will work with you and your curator to try and assist with volunteer needs, but we cannot promise anything. Remember that FIGMENT is about radical self-reliance.
- Selected artists will be asked to sign a waiver before they submit their project, signifying that they understand what will be asked of them from FIGMENT to install and de-install.
Project Timeline
- Submissions open: January 15, 2012
- Project submission deadline: April 10, 2012 (11:59pm ET)
- Notification of acceptance/rejection/how to fine tune your project: starting April 7, 2012
- Installation and setup start: Wednesday April 25, 2012
- Installation completion: by Sunday April 29, 2012
- FIGMENT Weekend: April 28-29, 2012
- De-Installation begins Saturday April 28, 2012
- De-Installation completion: by 5PM Monday April 30, 2012
Please address any questions to JXNcuratorial@figmentproject.org.
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See you at FIGMENT in April!
