New Poetics of Labor – OPEN CALL

“How might we expose the fundamental structures and dominant values of work, including its temporalities, socialities, hierarchies, and subjectivities as pressing political phenomena? If why we work, where we work, with whom we work, what we do at work, and how long we work are social arrangements and hence properly political decisions, how might more of this territory be reclaimed as viable terrains of debate and struggle?”

–The Problem with Work, Kathi Weeks

New Poetics of Labor aims to create opportunities for artists/workers to have a dialogue through experimental exhibitions in spaces where production takes place. Through art we learn about labor and there is a way that through labor we can also redefine art. When the languages of artists and workers are examined under the same lens a common ground is exposed, and the absurdities of a tired structure translate into people’s readiness for resistance.

At New Poetics of Labor we are asking ourselves:
-What examining labor might mean for resistance, especially in developing countries?
-What reflecting on this reality as a worker might mean for the artist, and similarly, what thinking of himself as an artist might mean for a waged worker?

We are inviting artists and writers to submit works for our upcoming exhibition and publication, which will open and launch in March 2018. This first edition will take place in Medellin, Colombia, and will be hosted by Grafiformas.

For this open call, New Poetics of Labor welcomes submissions from mid-career and emerging artists working in any of the following mediums: photography, painting, video, poetry, drawing, experimental writing, collage, sound, and performance. The work should interpret, relate to, or reflect on the concept of labor and what it means today in an artist’s personal life or broader community.

Please submit your proposals by January 26th, 2018 by 11:59 PM (EST) with the following materials in one PDF to [email protected]. Name the file: last name_first name. It should not exceed more than 15 MB.

Name 
Nationality
Email
Phone number
Address
Website (optional)
Bio/Artist Statement
CV
Up to 10 work samples/works in-progress.
Work list (Please include: Title, Date, Medium, Dimensions)

For video submissions, please send a clip of 5 minutes or less through a link or via wetransfer.com to [email protected].

We will notify applicants with decisions by February 15th, 2018. There is no application fee, but artists who are accepted will be asked to contribute USD $25 via Paypal to help with the costs of the printed publication. All pieces that are accepted will appear in this catalogue, as well as on our online publication, which will be updated with supplemental readings and materials relating to the work included.

**The group exhibition in Grafiformas will be a site specific installation. The selected pieces will be determined by their quality and by how they fit within the industrial warehouse space.**

Important dates:

January 26th, 2018 – Last day to submit
February 15th, 2018 – Notification of acceptances
March 1st, 2018 – Last day to receive physical work, contracts, and $25 (USD) contribution.
March 1st, 2018 – Online blog launch with artist profiles
March 30th, 2018 (TBD) – Exhibition opening and printed/online publication launch

Feel free to write with any questions at [email protected].

– The editors