Call for Submissions: NYU Conflux Festival

AMP's picture

Hi Everyone -

The Conflux Festival (the art and technology festival for the creative
exploration of urban public space) is now accepting submissions for
ConfluxCity - a user-generated open format event to be held in NYC on
Sunday September 18th, 2009 from 10am-6pm.

Conflux will be hosted here at NYU - please forward the Call for
Proposals to any interested colleagues and students. See below for more
info.

Warmly,
David Darts
Curatorial Director
Conflux Festival 2009
http://confluxfestival.org

====================Announcing Conflux 2009!
====================FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 26, 2009

Inquiries: Kari Hensley, Communications Director
media ::at:: confluxfestival.org

Glowlab announces the 6th Annual Conflux Festival in partnership with
New York University.

Conflux, the art and technology festival for the creative exploration of
urban public space, is pleased to announce the 6th annual Conflux
Festival will take place from September 17-20, 2009.

The festival will be headquartered in Manhattan with our partner and
host, NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human
Development. As in past years, Conflux events will take place
throughout New York's five boroughs.

The future of the festival was uncertain after the initial five-year run
ended last year. In the midst of the econocalypse, however,
artistic and critical attention to the complexities of urban space has
taken on a heightened significance. It thus seemed imperative for the
festival to continue with a special emphasis placed on
resource-sharing, academic analysis, and hands-on and collaborative
approaches to the creative examination of the urban environment.

The structure of the festival continues to evolve with this year's
presenters curated by invitation from within the existing Conflux
community. In keeping with its commitment to openness, the festival will
also include a special open-format day long event called
ConfluxCity that will allow for a diverse range of new participants and
projects.

=============ConfluxCity 2009
============In keeping with its commitment to urban artistic
exploration, community participation, shared knowledge, and critical
Civic engagement, Conflux will organize a user-generated open format event
on Sunday September 18th, 2009 from 10am-6pm.

Through an open submissions process, ConfluxCity will provide a
platform for artists, urban geographers, technologists and others to
organize and produce innovative activities dedicated to the
examination, celebration and (re)construction of everyday urban life.

Drawing inspiration from Burning Man's creed of radical self-reliance
and BarCamp's philosophy of openness and participation, ConfluxCity will
adopt an open-space approach in which participants will be
expected to organize, promote, and host their own activities and
events. To facilitate this format, the Conflux Festival headquarters and
website will serve as a central communications hub directing
festival attendees outward to individual event websites and locations.

ConfluxCity participants must submit their proposal by July 20th ($10
administrative fee). All proposals will be judged based on artistic
merit, originality, and feasibility.

The 2009 Conflux Festival schedule, venue, and other details will be
announced soon. Stay tuned.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The Conflux Festival is the annual New York festival for contemporary
psychogeography. It is a three-day event that promotes the
intellectual and artistic investigation of everyday urban life though
emerging artistic, technological and social practices. Over the past
five years, the festival has grown into an international art event with
a global reach and a reputation for presenting cutting-edge
artistic work within the realm of public-space arts.

For a few days each September, Conflux transforms the city into a
temporary laboratory for creative experimentation and action. Past
Conflux works and events have included mapping projects, high-tech
mobile public space interventions, artist-facilitated walking tours,
public installations, interactive performances, bike and subway
expeditions, workshops, lectures, film programs and live music
performances.

Conflux is attended by people with a common desire to understand,
explore, celebrate, and improve the urban environment. Conflux
visitors are introduced to strategies for utilizing performance,
visual art, and music to address the environment, sustainable
development, the increased presence of technology in cities, emerging
trends in social/local networking, and ways to encourage community
dialogue and humanize the urban experience.

As a fiscally sponsored project of the Brooklyn Arts Council, Conflux
has received grants and donations from the New York State Council on the
Arts, Artists Space, the Puffin Foundation, the Independence
Community Foundation and private contributors. The festival has been
featured extensively in publications including The New York Times, The
Wall Street Journal Online, The Village Voice, Time Out, New York
Press, Flash Art, Art Review and many others.

Conflux is produced by Glowlab, an innovative art project space and
creative catalyst for contemporary urban art. Our represented artists,
technologists and inspired thinkers are true social change agents,
modeling progressive approaches to urban living. We specialize in
presenting spatial and social concepts through artworks and
exhibitions related to cities and the urban environment.

--
David Darts, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Art and Art Education
Associate Director, MA in Studio Art: Venice, Italy
New York University

Steinhardt Department of Art & Art Professions
34 Stuyvesant Street
New York, NY 10003
212.998.5700
darts@nyu.edu
http://mediamind.org
http://ct4ct.com