While the word is currently used to refer to a kind of dry, ironic situation, The Absurd has a rich philosophical tradition most closely associated with the writings of Albert Camus. What are we to do with the question of life’s meaning, especially in the face of its persistent unanswerability? Camus says that “one must imagine Sisyphus happy,” but this is no simple task. In modern times, it seems we can find countless echoes of the loop Sisyphus is stuck in, from the eternal scroll of social media to the endless stream of new variants and vaccines; how do you access the repetitions of our lives where meaning escapes our grasp, and The Absurd is all that remains?
Interdisciplinary
International Art Competition Landscapes
Contemporary Art Room Gallery is proud to announce their 3rd “Landscapes” Online Art Competition for the month of March. This is an international competition and artists and photographers from around the world are welcome to submit their best representational and non-representational art related to the Landscapes theme: natural elements such as mountains, hills, valleys, deserts, forests, farmland, trees, rivers, lakes, polar regions, rainforests, islands and tropical landscapes. All visual art mediums are acceptable (painting, photography, drawing, sculpture, digital, prints, fiber art, collage or installation art) except sound and video art. All winning artists will receive a digital award certificate. First, second and third place will be largely displayed with an article about the artist and their work. First place will be on the poster of the show. $15 for 2 images, $28 for 4, $58 for up to 10. Deadline: February 24, 2022.
Seeking Leadership for Socially Distant Art: A Unique Accessibility-focused Online Arts Residency Program
Socially Distant Art (SDA) is seeking applicants to join our volunteer leadership team as we build our arts residency program. We are looking for applicants who are interested in mutual aid, accessibility and inclusivity in the arts, arts activism, and digital/remote community building. We invite you to join us and broaden our base of knowledge and experience as we shape the foundations of our organization. While these openings are unpaid, an applicant’s interests, skills, and abilities will help define their role in the leadership team.
Using mutual aid structures and practices as our guide, we are aiming to create a non-hierarchical leadership team that utilizes consensus-style decision making and “team lead” type roles. Some of the team lead positions we are hoping to fill include, but are not limited to:
- Captioning and transcription
- Virtual event and community gathering planning
- Fundraising and budgeting
- Promo and social media management
- Community archives
Additionally, if you have ideas for other teams or projects that you would like to lead, we would like to hear about them! We are looking to develop teams that are based on the interests of our leaders and overall community and hope our leadership team members can use their roles as an opportunity to develop their own art practice goals.
We are looking for applicants who would be able to commit to a minimum of 12 months, starting in March 2022. The role would involve a time commitment of one 90-minute weekly leadership meeting and an additional 12 to 20 hours each month of administrative work, project work, or group meetings. Even though we are asking applicants to make these commitments, we have scheduled SDA project goals to allow for flexibility in the time and energy our team members can give from month to month.
To be considered, please fill out and submit our Leadership Team application form by Monday, February 21, 2022 by 11:59 EST. Applicants will be notified if they are selected for an interview by March 1, 2022.
This position does not require previous experience in arts administration, community organizing, or accessibility work to be considered. Not sure if you meet all our requirements? Research shows that men will apply for a position if they meet 60% of the requirements, while other people who are systematically marginalized will only apply if they meet 100% of the requirements. If you think you have a lot to offer this position, we encourage you to apply. Please contact us if you have any questions at Hello@SociallyDistantArt.org.
Socially Distant Art is a digitally-based, grassroots arts residency program with a focus on cultivating accessibility and inclusivity in our residents’ creative and organizational practices. We are shaping our program with an intersectional approach to accessibility, building our work upon innovations within mutual aid movements and the Disability Activism community.
Our program goals include:
- Creating a supportive and inclusive community for creators and arts leaders, especially for those who often face barriers to accessing the majority of arts opportunities;
- Providing visual artists, sound/audio artists, performers, composers, writers, filmmakers, arts administrators, cultural leaders, creative producers, and more with the knowledge and resources to make accessible art and art experiences;
- Exploring the concept of accessibility as it intersects with socioeconomic status, marginalized identities, and support systems.
To learn more about SDA and what we do, please visit our website SociallyDistantArt.org, follow us on Instagram @SociallyDistantArt, and check out our most recent digital exhibition LiminalBeings.art.
Nature Art Contest
Grey Cube Gallery proudly presents the third Nature online art contest for the month of February 2022. Open to all artists worldwide over 18 years of age. We call artists and photographers to submit their best artworks related to the world of nature (flora and fauna, landscapes, seascapes, skies, etc). All visual art mediums (except video and sound) are allowed. All winning artists will receive a digital award certificate. Winning artwork (Best of Show) will be on the poster of the show. $16 for 2 images, $30 for 4, $42 for 6, and $50 for up to 8 images. Deadline: February 10, 2022.
International Art Competition Black & White
Contemporary Art Room Gallery is proud to announce their 5th “Black & White” Online Art Competition for the month of February 2022. This is an international competition and artists from around the world are welcome to submit their work. Black & White theme in this competition will be strictly applied and only works in black, white and or shades of gray will be accepted. All visual art mediums are acceptable (painting, photography, drawing, sculpture, digital, prints, fiber art, collage or installation art) except sound and video art. All winning artists will receive a digital award certificate. First, second and third place will be largely displayed with an article about the artist and their work. First place will be on the poster of the show. $15 for 2 images, $28 for 4, $58 for up to 10. Deadline: February 3, 2022.
Call to Artists: Poetry & Collage Residency
A four-week, virtual/online residencywith Kolaj Institute in March 2022
Deadline to apply: Wednesday, February 2, 2022
It says something that in the Poetry Foundation’s Glossary of Poetic Terms, “collage” is one of the few visual art terms they define. Perhaps this is because so many poets have also been collage artists. In recent years, we’ve seen exhibitions from John Ashbery and Marc Strand, whose collage “dates back to his student days at Yale in the 1950s where he studied with Josef Albers, the renowned Bauhaus artist and color theorist, and also Bernard Chaet.” Arthur Solway recalled, “Though we were eight thousand miles apart we would have weekly Skype calls, and he was always eager and excited to show me the latest batch of collages he was working on.” A 2017 book of Helen Adam’s collages, which fellow poet Robert Duncan referred to as “pleasing weird”, has sold out. Keith Waldrop, Barbara Guest, John Wieners, Norma Cole, the list is long.
This project-driven residency is open to artists and poets. Participants will work together to investigate the intersection of collage and poetry by exploring concepts of found poetry, blackout poetry, collage poems, haikus, centos, response collages, response poems, word scrambles, concrete poetry, scatter collage poems, and other poems and artwork that inhabit this world. Together we will create working definitions and document techniques.
Guest speakers will share their practice, knowledge and experience. Portland, Oregon-based Kevin Sampsell is an editor, publisher, bookstore employee, collage artist, and author. His forthcoming book of collage art and poems, I Made an Accident, is being published by Clash Books. Renée Reizman is an interdisciplinary curator, artist and writer specializing in social practice and civic engagement. Her workshop, “Deconstructing Legalese”, uses found poetry to examine contracts and codes imposed upon us by bureaucratic systems, and reconstructs the language to reclaim our personal histories. Rod T. Boyer creates art and poetry under the moniker our thomas, exploring themes of redemption, mystery, and transformation. In Kolaj #32, his article, “Mind the Gap,” explored how collage and haiku share similar mechanisms of juxtaposition and disjunction.
In several virtual meetings over four weeks (see schedule below) and through ongoing, online discussion, artists will leave the residency with a deeper understanding of the intersection of collage and poetry. Individual participants will each create 3-5 page spreads that will be included in a forthcoming book of collage and poetry from Kolaj Institute. The pages may be entirely text, entirely images, or some combination of the two.
WHO IS THIS FOR?
Collage Artist Residencies are intended for self-motivated writers and artists, at any stage in their career, who want to develop their practice by exploring a topic or working method and collaborating with others to produce a final product. Residencies are open to any artist over the age of 21 from anywhere in the world.
COST
The cost of the residency is $500 per artist; however, no artist will be turned away for lack of funds and the organizers will work with artists to build a financial aid package.
HOW TO APPLY
Submit your application HERE.
RESIDENCY LOGISTICS
Dates: March 3rd – March 31st, 2022
SESSION DATES
Saturday, March 5th, 3-4PM EST
Sunday, March 6th, 3-5PM EST
Wednesday, March 9th, 5-6PM EST
Sunday, March 13th, 3-5PM EST
Sunday, March 20th, 3-5PM EST
Wednesday March 30th, 5-7PM EST
The residency will begin with an invitation to join the Slack workspace on Thursday, March 3rd, followed by a one hour, online Meet & Greet on Saturday, March 5th at 3PM EST.
The Introduction and Orientation session will take place on Sunday, March 6th from 3-5PM EST and artists will begin to plan their work and collaborations during a one hour meeting on Wednesday, March 9th at 5PM EST.
Two sessions with guest speakers are scheduled for Sunday, March 13th, and Sunday, March 20th from 3-5PM EST.
The final session will take place on Wednesday March 30th from 5-7PM EST.
Artists are expected to attend all scheduled sessions and complete assignments. The group will individually and collectively produce a series of poems and collages. By participation in the residency, artists grant Kolaj Institute, Kolaj Magazine, and Maison Kasini permission to publish the text and images in book form and in the promotion of the project and book. Any original work made during the residency remains the property of the individual artists with all rights retained.
APPLICATION PROCESS
The submission process asks applicants for:
• Contact information
• Artist or Writer Bio (50-250 words)
• Statement of Artist or Writer Practice (50-300 words)
• 3-5 images of artwork or samples of writing
• Statement of expectations
• Asks questions about your work and needs
QUESTIONS
If you have questions, send an email.
