We want your ideas! (but promise they’ll stay yours)
Hey guys,
We’ve been rumbling for awhile about some changes we want to implement into the magazine. Thanks to those of you that took our survey and helped give us an idea of changes you would like. Today we’re happy to announce the first of those new things…
Composite Arts Magazine is now accepting proposals from visual artists for inclusion in upcoming Issues. We began as an invitation only project, and during our second year, we began accepting submissions of written work. Moving forward, we want to open up the conversation we are having by allowing visual artists to submit work aswell. We will be announcing issue themes two issues in advance, on the date the most current issue is released; for example, on the date of the Fall release, we will announce the Spring Theme. Proposals for the newest themes will be due within two months of their announcement.
We are currently accepting proposals for our Winter Issue “Interact”. Proposals are due on September 18, 2012, the release day of Composite No. 9 Function. Work involving ideas around, documentation of, discussion of, and actual interaction of artists, viewers, and communities will be considered. The issue theme statement follows:
In the second half of the 20th century, visual artists became interested in doing more than making objects and pictures. In this aspect, authors had been ahead of the curve, as dramatic performing arts have been allowing their work to exist outside of itself for roughly 2500 years. The Bauhaus, Fluxus, and Happenings brought performance into the fine art vernacular, and the rise of new media allowed artists to continue playing catch up—working with photo, video, and sound to create new ways of capturing, creating, and experiencing art. However, art still remained largely about the artist first and foremost: their opinions, their emotions, their experiences.
This all began to change in the 70’s and 80’s. For as little concrete cohesion existed Postmodern movement, it set in motion the idea that art content could be user generated. The “death of the artist” idea supports the viability in audience influenced and generated art. The viewer was no longer exclusively an observer, but active participant in work being created, and an influence in the outcome of that work. Today, we see creatives working in collaborative collectives outside of a defined medium. Social Practice has taken performance art to a level less about personal expression, and more about shared experience. The role of critic has given way to more accessible forms of curatorial practice through publications and podcasts. We’ve become more interested in mining for information and sharing it openly, hoping to complete the one way conversation occurring for centuries in galleries and museums. We’re looking for interaction.
In lieu of death, we’ve at least become more humble, in practice anyhow. We recognize we don’t hold all of the answers, that opinions and perspectives matter outside of our own. By working to fade to the back and create work that others can engage with, we guarantee that entering into the 21st century, the artist seems alive and well.
One of our favorite aspects of this publication has always been providing a venue for artists to show work that exists as a form of experimentation, does not fit into their normal repertoire, or they have been unable to show publicly for one reason or another. We’re hoping through this process we’ll be opening up to artists we are unfamiliar with or provide a space for those we know looking to branch out in their practice.
Selected proposals are currently unfunded. However, along with publication of the project, we are here to support and work with all artists as much as possible and can provide the use of our blog, web hosting of project collateral, and any other resources we may have access to. Please specify in proposal what you may need from us. We are interested in cultivating relationships with artists through the process of their projects.
Proposals are open to all mediums as long as they can exist within the final publication in a .pdf format. Proposals can be for work yet to be made, work in progress, or work that has been completed. Work that has already been completed must be no more than 2 years old, and also must include a written proposal/artist statement.
We’d love to hear your opinions on this and hope to be working with even more of you in the future.
For now, you can submit your work through the Submit page, or go directly to the submittable page.
