Enter, Het Nieuwe Instituut’s new video conferencing platform, seeks its second artist in residence.
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Applications are open until 20 December 2021.
This past year saw a surfeit of digital interactions, spaces, and communication in our online worlds. Poor internet connections, unfriendly interfaces and privacy concerns are among the issues we face as users of online platforms. This open call seeks to question how an alternative digital space could look and feel. In line with these issues, Enter asks you:
How would you redesign the tools, visual design and interactions of Enter, in order to create and alter intimate, human-focused online interaction in the platform? We call upon all thinkers and creators with experience in digital culture to apply!
About Enter
Enter is a video conferencing platform for online and hybrid events in the cultural field, developed by Het Nieuwe Instituut. Enter combines ongoing experimental design and development with critical reflection on the implications of online platforms. There are many assumptions built into existing platforms such as Zoom and Facebook, without the possibility for users to appropriate any of these tools. The focus of Enter is on finding more human-centred ways to present online and hybrid cultural programming, addressing a range of use cases in the cultural field. The platform has been in development since April 2020 and currently hosts artist residencies, collaborative research projects, live streams, online event recordings and small group meetings.
For this online residency, you will be working with the Enter project team, all of whom have trained as artists and share an experimental approach to design. Together with our team, you will create an artwork as a separate ‘room’ in Enter, that will be available to an online audience for the duration of the exhibition Temporary House of Home. The work will also be premiered at an online Enter event on 10 March 2022, organised by Het Nieuwe Instituut. This residency is a chance for us all to experiment and together see how we can devise a new digital platform for communities and networks. If it ‘breaks’ or falls apart, we also see that as a worthwhile experiment.
Previous residency
Artist Shiyun Deng was Enter’s first online resident, in August 2021. Deng worked closely with one of Enter’s developers, Marianne Noordzij. The work was called It Is Finally Possible to Be Here With You 24/7. Deng’s project responded to the current situation of online video calling embedded in everyday life due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In her work, she asks: how does video calling change the perception of being present? What emotions does it bring about in the body?
Enter’s developer Marianne Noordzij programmed an ongoing 24-hour stream in Deng’s ‘room’. In Deng’s virtual world, the audience observes Deng from all sorts of different places - at home, cycling through a tunnel, working out in a gym. While being there, Shiyun chats with the visitor about the notion of being able to always be online from anywhere.
Artist, graphic designer and DJ Shiyun Deng, aka DJ USB, is the first Enter Artist in Residence.
Criteria
There is no age limit for applicants. Individuals and collectives from all places of residence are invited to apply. Applications are open to all degree levels in all disciplines. Equal priority will be given to those without a degree or institutional affiliation who can also demonstrate a high level of creativity, critical thought and other potential in their respective fields.
To apply, please submit a single pdf (no larger than 10 MB) or a direct link to your application, presented in English, to contactenter@hetnieuweinstituut.nl. Applications must be submitted by email no later than Monday, December 20, 2021, by 09:00 (CET). For questions or general inquiries, please email Aileen Ye at a.ye@hetnieuweinstituut.nl with subject line ‘Enter Open Call [your name]’
- Open to anywhere in the world
- Background experience/knowledge of digital culture (1-5 years)
- Portfolio - visual and/or written samples
- Self-chosen format (visual, written) in response to the questions, why you think your idea could be relevant (max. 3 minute video or A4 page).
Guidelines
- A fixed stipend of €1,500 will be provided for the duration of the residency
- Applicants must be available 1-22 February
- Should be comfortable communicating within CET timezone (Central European Time) and meeting online twice a week (between Tuesday-Friday)
- Not necessary to have technical knowledge of web systems as you will be working closely with one of our developers to help realise your vision
- The work will be presented at Enter’s digital event after the residency on 24 February 2022
- Documentation of the residency’s development will be required by the participant (and may also be featured in Enter’s upcoming newsletter)
- The resident will have the freedom to change one ‘room’ on the platform
- This residency is entirely remote, therefore no travel arrangements or related costs will be facilitated.
Important Dates:
Submission deadline: 20 December, 9am (CEST) Selection deadline: Mid-January, 2022 Start residency: 1 February 2022 End residency: 22 February 2022
Digital event showcase: February 24th, 2022 See Enter here (coffee room is openly accessible)
Download the Open Call PDF.