Call for submissions: Gameplay: Video Games in Contemporary Art Practice
At once, the word video game is associated with both interactivity and seclusion. Through the agency of the internet, online gaming has become a participatory source of virtual interaction with online communities of gamers. However, video games can also be considered a solitary retreat into a virtual utopia—lands in which the empowered user can manipulate, destroy, and engender. Historically, ideas of games and play are inextricably bound up with pleasure, desire, and a retreat into the self via intense absorption. This withdrawl into the self, however, is connected to outside relations, as it is an ultimate yearning for exterior engagement.
The word “gameplay” refers to the creative, resistant, or artful manipulation of video games by users. It can be said that “gameplay” relates not only to the strategic, but also emotional framework of play, as it is a unique reflection the individual’s meaningful bond to the game itself. According to Sid Meier, a world-renowned designer, a game is a “series of interesting choices.” If art can also be considered a “series of interesting choices,” what happens when the realms of art and video game intersect?
Around the Coyote is seeking submissions for our July 2007 group show, Gameplay: Video Games in Contemporary Art Practice. For Gameplay, we are looking for artists who use video games in a myriad of ways: Do you use video games or its software to explore your own identity or place in this world? Do you use it politically, as a site of resistance? Do you use it as a tool for interactivity or collaboration with other artists or subjects? Do you see virtual worlds as a site of meaning? Does your video game work result in art objects such as photographs, installations or performances?
If your practice is related to video games, and you would like to be considered for Gameplay: Video Games in Contemporary Art Practice, please apply in accordance with the following application procedures. For questions, please contact jessica@aroundthecoyote.org.
Deadline and Application procedure:
If would like to be considered for this exhibition, please submit the following to the Around the Coyote Gallery no later than May 5, 2007 at 6pm. 1. Digital documentation of each submitted piece - artists can submit a maximum of six images on CD. All submitted images must be of work that is available for sale and exhibition from July 6 through July 28, 2007.
2. An image list with your name, title of each piece, year it was made, media, dimensions and price (in US currency). Keep in mind that Around the Coyote takes 35% of all sales when submitting your pricing information.
3. Artist’s Statement
4. Artist’s Bio/C.V.
5. One paragraph description about each submitted piece and/or a short description that applies to all submitted work (if not covered in your artist statement). Submission materials will not be returned. Slides are not accepted. Send Application Materials:
Around the Coyote
1935 ½ West North Ave.
Chicago, IL 60622
Attn: Gameplay For submission questions please contact Jessica Cochran: jessica@aroundthecoyote.org
About Around the Coyote: Around the Coyote is one of Chicago’s most active and dynamic non profit arts organizations. Located in Wicker Park, ATC supports, promotes and makes accessible Chicago's multidisciplinary arts community. Our activities enhance public discourse and provide creative outlets for emerging artists. Year-round programming includes multi-media arts festivals featuring visual art, theater, dance, film, music, video and poetry in the winter and fall; art exhibitions in the Around the Coyote gallery; an artist-in-residence program; membership opportunities for artists and art aficionados; educational outreach for all ages through multi-media art workshops, lectures, collaborations with local schools and agencies, and career development workshops for artists. This programming is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, and the CityArts Program 2 grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs.
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