[rohrpost] CaLL FOR APPLiCATiONS - workshop at 5533 artspace

[Lena Brüggemann]

CaLL FOR APPLiCATiONS

Open to all visual artists and researchers living in Turkey or Germany  
who are working on the topic of site-specificity

«Taking siTe!»
Workshop at 5533 art space, istanbul (TR) exhibition at D21 art space,  
Leipzig (De)
april 18, 2013 – May 03, 2013


The «taking site!» project will consist of a workshop with  
participants at 5533 art space in istanbul between april 18 and May  
03, 2013, with the results and processes being simultane- ously  
exhibited at D21 kunstraum in Leipzig.


The meaning of the term site-specificity in the field of art has  
changed essentially within the last decades. emerging in the 1960s as  
a renunciation of a self-contained, transportable, therefore  
commodity-like artwork, site-specificity allowed the artwork to relate  
to its environment. influences of institutional critique transformed  
this definition of site-specific art. eventually, the site was de-  
fined not only by the physical environment of the space, but also by  
the social communities with their hierarchies and economic situations.  
The community, often understood as the marginalized and  
underprivileged, became the new focus of site-specific artworks.  
Concomitantly, the appear- ance of the artworks changed from aesthetic  
objects into predominantly process focused events that were merely  
temporary in the space.
Our current concepts of society, nation and city rely on  
sedentariness, but today’s increasing mobility challenges these  
concepts. Tourists and migrants are generally relieved from rights and  
duties of a governmental politic. indeed, this de-territorialization  
does have liberating effects. Miwon kwon notes in «One place after  
another» that the limitations of an identity, which is determined and  
normalized by a site, can be replaced by the production of multiple  
identities, flexible bonds and meanings. However, as the site-specific  
bonds are released, the status as a political subject also vanishes.
The working conditions of artists are nowadays nomadic and  
project-related. Residency programs support and demand mobility and  
simultaneously an examination of the site, where the artists so- journ  
temporarily. What can artists understand about a site where they just  
stay only temporarily? are their experiences not always mediatized  
with internet research and interaction with on-site institutions?  
Faced with the last remnants of differences in cities – how can the  
artist refrain from reproducing an image of the exotic other and avoid  
forcing a fixed identity on the community?

a status as a political subject – can this issue be raised, claimed  
and transferred to others, by artists and their work at an «alien»  
place? What could be site-specificity today?


please send your submission in english via e-mail by FeBRUaRY 2nd,  
2013 to office at d21-leipzig.de including:
pre-existing works related to the theme with a short statement  
(artistic or scientific); some examples of current works; and a short  
curriculum vitae including name and contact information.
please send all documents as pdfs contained in one zip-file.

The jury consists of members of D21, 5533 and independent artists.  
eight artists/researchers will be chosen in the middle of February  
2013. The selected participants will be informed immediately following  
the jury meeting. artists/researchers not chosen for the exhibition  
will be notified per email shortly thereafter.
We are working on financing travel costs and accomodations for the  
travelling participants. pro- duction costs of artworks during the  
workshop/ exhibition will be covered. The secure financial  
circumstances will be announced in March 2013.


«Taking site!» is a cooperation between 5533 art space istanbul and  
D21 kunstraum Leipzig.

D21 kunstraum was founded in 2006 to show an international program of  
contemporary art, es- pecially new media, installation and performance  
in Leipzig. The space is run by members of the D21 association.
http://www.d21-leipzig.de

5533 was opened in 2008 by nancy atakan and Volkan aslan as an  
experimental non-profit art space. The main aims are hosting  
international projects and interactive events involving exhibi- tions,  
artist talks, workshops and round table discussions; conducting art  
related research, materializing projects, and sharing these with the  
neighbors, the art community, and the general public.
http://imc5533.blogspot.de/


Supported by kulturstiftung des Freistaates sachsen and kulturamt der  
stadt Leipzig.