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Open Call : ABC No Rio in Exile at Flux Factory

abc_norio_image

ABC No Rio in Exile at Flux Factory
Against Competition/Towards Mutual Aid
February 1 – February 14, 2017

Submission deadline December 31st

For Project Info:
abcnorio@fluxfactory.org
and / or
fluxfactory@abcnorio.org

Against Competition/Towards Mutual Aid1 is a collaborative arts project between ABC No Rio and Flux Factory. Against Competition/Towards Mutual Aid seeks to create a dialogue around an alternative to the traditional, competitive atmosphere of art production and exhibition. The project is based on the ideas that art should exist as a venture that nourishes collaboration and that competitive approaches should be bypassed and replaced by more mutualist and participatory practices.

Unlike a traditional exhibition, the premise of Against Competition/Towards Mutual Aid requires all artists to propose works themed around mutual aid; those projects will be realized by all of the artists collaboratively over the course of a month. All participants are required to commit a substantial amount of time and effort to realizing the project. A core part of the exhibition will be the sharing of materials, skills, and labor. Participating artists will be asked submit a list of things that they need or would like to complete their projects. This list will be made available to all the participants, who will be encouraged to try and fulfill each other’s needs. Visions will be realized, but not necessarily as originally imagined; this is part of the excitement of the project.

By engaging in an artistic process that is based on voluntary reciprocity, Flux Factory and ABC No Rio aim to question the commonly held notions that competition is natural, inevitable and healthy. We look to historical models, such as Amish barn raising – in which a community comes together to build a barn for one of its members, for our inspiration. While we cannot promise a barn, we promise a nuanced exploration of the ideas and potential ways we can bring this type of collaboration to fruition.

We are currently seeking collaborators to realize with us a practical embodiment of this alternative. A process driven project and show, Against Competition/Towards Mutual Aid will culminate in a 2 week installation in the Flux Factory Gallery developed through the interaction and cooperation of the participants.

Interested parties must fill out the following Participating Artist Questionnaire and submit it by Dec 31, 2016 to fluxfactory@abcnorio.org or abcnorio@fluxfactory.org.

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1Against Competition/Towards Mutual Aid expands on an ABC No Rio project of several years ago that was inspired in part by Marc Fischer’s essay “Against Competition” and consisted of artworks made cooperatively by an artist and another who helped realize their vision.
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Against Competition/Towards Mutual Aid
Participating Artist Questionnaire

Filling out this questionnaire ensures a commitment to the project. Please do not submit if you cannot make this commitment.

You can provide your responses in the body of an email, or as a word document, text file, or PDF.

Name
Address
Telephone
Email

1. What are your thoughts on mutual aid and cooperation? Have you worked collaboratively before? What worked for you and what didn’t? What are some unexpected things that came out of it?

2. Why do you want to participate in this project?

3. What is a project that you would like to do, but that requires the help of other people to make it possible? Please be specific.

4. Please describe an ideal project you would be glad to assist someone else to realize.

5. List some ways in which you could be of help to someone else and their project? (skills, equipment, space etc.)

6. What are some materials that you can contribute to the project?

7. Please list materials ( skills, equipment, etc… ) you require for your project.

Participants are also asked to commit to at least two of the four scheduled project planning meetings:

Tuesday, January 10th, 7pm – Artist Meet and Greet Potluck
Tuesday, January 17, 7pm
Wednesday, January 25, 7pm
Sunday, January 29, 7pm

All meetings will take place at Flux Factory in Long Island City, Queens.

8. Can you make it to two of these four planning meetings? Which ones?

(These meetings are to ensure that everyone can start working together and sharing ideas in advance of the active installation of the project. Because of the nature of this show, we cannot stress how important it is for all participants to be able to commit to the meetings and the show.)

Optional: Link to artist website or work samples or email us images/sketches of proposal (1MB size limit, 3 images/pdfs max)

Questionnaires must be completed and submitted by December 31, 2016 to fluxfactory@abcnorio.org and/or abcnorio@fluxfactory.org.

Participating artists will be notified January 4, 2017.

Image: Hudson Valley Vernacular Architecture

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