INTERNATIONAL SHARED RESIDENCY OF EYEBEAM (US) AND BALTAN

LABORATORIES (NL)

INTERNATIONAL SHARED RESIDENCY

A COLLABORATION BETWEEN EYEBEAM (US) AND BALTAN LABORATORIES (NL)

For artists, shared residencies offer a context that’s more than simply time and space to work. By residing at each partner organization, time and space is multiplied across locations and each location brings its own culture to the work. In this case, the collaborative potential between Baltan Laboratories in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, and Eyebeam Art + Technology Center in New York City is exponentially increased – both organizations are deeply committed to supporting the process of artistic creation from early stages through to the end project. This collaborative residency is organized around the theme of “Cultural Economies” with the goal of instigating new work that critically examines the ability of artists and artistic production to maintain large cultural relevance in an age of increasingly limited resources.

The timeline for this collaborative residency is as follows:

Sept. 17 – Nov. 18, in residence at Eyebeam (housing not provided);

Nov. 19 – Dec. 21, in residence at Baltan Laboratories, in collaboration with the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven (NL) (housing provided);

Dec. 14 – 15, presentation of working prototype at an international symposium around collecting and presenting digitally born art in the museum, a collaboration between Baltan Laboratories and the Van Abbemuseum;

Dec. 22 – Feb. 18, 2013, in residence at Eyebeam with presentation of final work in exhibition.

The selected artist(s) will receive paid transportation, a production budget, and a modest fee.

Please note, this is a different program than a standard Eyebeam residency so stipend and budget differs.

For this residency focus area, the following must be agreeable to the selected artist:

– The artist must be willing to openly and thoroughly document the artistic process.

– The work should be created using open source software;

– The artist should have experience working in collaborative settings with people from different disciplines.

Please note: only artists and technologists who can commit to the working timeline should apply. Also, please include in the application (under the “Additional Info. section”) the motivation for why you would like to work in the context of this particular residency.

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS:

Applications are only accepted via our online application system. Applications received after the deadline of noon, 12:00 (EST) PM (noon), June 22, 2012, will not be accepted. All applications and work samples must be submitted through the online form. No exceptions will be made. You can create a user/password during the application process and log back into the server to update your application before the final deadline.

Complete applications must include the following information:

– Contact Information

– Resume or CV (.rtf, .pdf, .doc)

– Work samples in the form of URLs. Include a project description with your work sample that explains your contribution to the piece, how it is meant to be viewed and how it relates to your proposed project(s)/research.

– Concise responses to all application questions. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

International Residents are responsible for securing their own visas for the Residency period.

NOTE: International applicants are encouraged to take into consideration the time required for meeting travel and visa requirements and may want to consider applying to the cycle prior to their intended start date.

ALL APPLICATIONS GO TO: <http://apply.eyebeam.org>http://apply.eyebeam.org

Eyebeam is the leading not-for-profit art and technology center in the USA. Our unique collaborative environment fosters fellowships and residencies through research, education, public programming and a vital web space, <http://eyebeam.org>eyebeam.org. We are located in the heart of NYC’s Chelsea art district in a resource rich 15,000 sq.ft. space. Please see the Residents and Projects sections of our web site for information on current and previous work developed at Eyebeam.

VIDA Art and Artificial Life International Awards begun in 1999 by Fundación Telefónica, was created with the mission of supporting creative endeavours in this singular field by rewarding the pioneering efforts of artists. We are now pleased to announce the launch of the VIDA 14.0, which for the last 14 years have been rewarding artistic projects developed with technological media that offer innovative insights into the study of artificial life.

At a time when the concept of life finds itself once again in uncharted territory, a wide range of artistic initiatives attempt to illustrate and explore this phenomenon, examining its impact on our collective consciousness and how it affects the cultural, technological and social mindset.

Over the past decade, VIDA has welcomed a variety of interdisciplinary projects that respond to this situation and brought them together in a single forum. Using formal strategies that push the boundaries between existing practices, these projects offer new perspectives that force us to reconsider our pre-existing notions of life and artificial life.

What types of projects receive a VIDA 14.0?
The VIDA Award is granted to artistic creations developed using artificial life technology. Among the projects submitted to VIDA, the artists’ ties to this theme and their choice of media are very diverse. Throughout its history, the competition has welcomed proposals that challenge the boundary between living and non-living, between natural and synthetic, either by juxtaposing both realities or by creating overlapping spaces for reflection.
The winning projects include robotic systems, immersive installations, online video games, autonomous self-organising devices and evolutionary indicators. Another common characteristic of past winners is the use of interactive and immersive installations—a response to today’s environment of technological entities—which attempt to communicate with visitors by making them part of the system. Chimerical devices that combine natural and artificial elements, telepresence systems, network structures that operate as artificial intelligences, invasive dynamics of increasing complexity and acumen—these are just some of the themes addressed by the artists who participate in VIDA. From the very first edition to the present day, we have rewarded artists who have applied traditional artificial life technologies to their work, such as cellular automata, autonomous agents, neural networks, robotics, interactive systems, virtual ecologies and evolving software. What all of these projects have in common is that they involve emergent behaviours which grow more sophisticated over time, react with their environment and seem to show signs of autonomous life.
In recent years we have observed an increasing hybridisation of media and formats among the projects submitted to VIDA, which has led us to advocate the category’s expansion in order to trace the evolution of this field. The competition has gradually extended its scope, maintaining its interest in projects that involve conventional artificial life research while also venturing into new, cutting-edge territories such as life sciences and environmental sciences. In short, we could say that VIDA rewards artistic projects that are related to any dynamic life process affected by simulation.

As in previous years, contestants are invited to submit proposals in one of two categories:
CATEGORY “FINALISED PROJECTS”
In this category, Vida 14.0 rewards artistic artificial life projects developed after the year 2010. A total of 40,000 euros will be divided among the three winning projects chosen by the jury: First Prize: 18,000 euros; Second Prize: 14,000 euros; Third Prize: 8,000 euros. Seven honorary mentions will also be awarded to projects chosen by the jury from among the finalists.
CATEGORY “INCENTIVES FOR PRODUCTION”
In this category, Vida 14.0 helps to finance artistic artificial life projects that have not yet been produced. It is reserved for artists who are citizens or residents of any country in Latin America, Spain or Portugal. This category is also endowed with 40,000 euros to be divided among the selected projects.
IMPORTANT DATES
Project submissions must be submitted before midnight (Central European Time) on 30th July 2012.

JURY
Submitted projects will be reviewed by an international jury consisting of Mónica Bello (Spain), Jens Hauser (France), Martin Kaltenbrunner (Austria), Karla Jasso (Mexico), Sally Jane Norman (New Zealand/France), Nell Tenhaaf (Canada) and Francisco Serrano, Executive Director of Fundación Telefónica.
INFORMATION AND QUERIES
You can find the competition guidelines and the participation form athttp://www.fundacion.telefonica.com/vida
If you have any questions about the competition, please refer to the FAQ section. You may also contact us by sending an email to vida@telefonica.es

——
Mónica Bello
Artistic Director of VIDA
Art and Artificial Life International Awards
www.fundaciontelefonica.org/vida