ISSUE Project Room 2012 Emerging Artist Commission

ISSUE Project Room’s 2012 Emerging Artists Commission will focus on transdisciplinary practices with a special attention to contemporary political, aesthetic, social and technological concerns. Although ISSUE Project Room has primarily functioned as a performing arts venue, the work submitted may or may not be performative in nature, and does not need to be hosted in our current space at the Old American Can Factory. The minimum commission will be 750 dollars but artists may apply for any amount up to 5,000 dollars. Six artists will be selected with whom the curatorial staff will work to support, develop and present their respective projects throughout 2012.

Submission Requirements: ISSUE Project Room will invite artists or groups to submit a project proposal which will consist of a bio, artist statement, project description and either sound samples, video, and/or images of a proposed commission. If the project cost exceeds 750, a detailed budget must be submitted. Artist’s bio, statement and project description should not exceed 500 words. Though proposed work can be contextualized with documentation of past projects, audio and visual material should focus on representing the proposed new project. Audio/Visual submissions should not exceed 30 minutes in length. Two hard copies of the submission must be mailed to:

ATTN: Lawrence Kumpf
ISSUE Project Room
232 3rd Street
Brooklyn, NY 11215

in addition to online submission at http://www.issueprojectroom.org/eac-2012-application/. Video and sound samples, for online submission, should be posted on Vimeo and Bandcamp and submitted in hard copy form. Any questions regarding this process should be addressed to Lawrence Kumpf at lawrence@issueprojectroom.org.

Submissions are due by October 22, 2011.

Selection Process: Four panelists have been solicited to participate in the invitation and selection process based on their perspectives and expertise in a range of different artistic fields. The panelists will work with ISSUE curators, Lawrence Kumpf and Zach Layton, Development Coordinator Matthew Walker and Executive Director Ed Patuto, in order to select six projects. ISSUE Project Room curators Zach Layton and Lawrence Kumpf will select panelists representing a diverse range of disciplinary fields, aesthetics and viewpoints. ISSUE will solicit twenty recommendations from a committee of ten members based on the above stated criteria in addition to representing local, national and international perspectives.

Selection Criteria: Artistic projects in any number of fields will be considered but preference will be given towards works in the fields of:

-sound art and music
-new media and emerging fields
-performance art and dance

Special attention will be paid to ambitious and imaginative projects otherwise lacking in strong institutional support. Final selections will be based upon the inventiveness, strength and contemporary relevance of individual projects. ISSUE will work with the recipients to finalize and produce their projects during the 2012 calendar year. Though we are not having an open call ISSUE will review all submissions. The pieces commissioned by ISSUE cannot have been presented at another institution or must have been significantly developed since that time. If the project has an unconventional presentation structure, the artist should include notes on its execution.