Open call for projects LAB#01

Deadline: February 27th, 2022

Further information and application form: https://mediossintientes.medialab-matadero.es

Open call for projects for the LAB#01 Collaborative Prototyping Lab, an intensive two-week workshop mentored by internationally renowned experts/artists to collectively develop projects related to the theme of Sentient Media.

The workshop will take place at Matadero Madrid facilities, in Madrid, between April 21st and May 3rd.

The projects will be developed collectively by multidisciplinary teams selected through this open call, whose stay in Madrid during the days of the workshop will be covered by Medialab.

Once selected, the projects will be made public and we will launch a second call for collaborators who want to join us at Medialab Matadero to help us develop them.

Who can apply

We believe that creativity and social innovation must come from the most varied and diverse corners of society.

The Collaborative Prototyping Labs is aimed at individuals and collectives from Spain and abroad from any level of degree and from diverse disciplines such as design, art, architecture, urbanism, economics, film, photography, journalism, digital media, environmental sciences, philosophy, engineering, social studies, political science, programming, materials science, activism or any other field.

Equal priority will be given to profiles without degrees or institutional affiliation that can demonstrate a high level of creativity, critical thinking and other potential.

There is no age limit for applicants. No curriculum vitae or letters of recommendation are requested.

The workshop will be conducted in English and Spanish.

What are we looking for?

We are interested in all types of projects – from the most technical to the most speculative – and at any stage of development – from incipient ideas to projects in their final stages of definition and testing – that benefit from the context of collaboration and co-creation offered by Medialab and address in one way or another the broad topic of ‘Medios Sintientes’.

This includes proposals that aim to operationalize non-human sentient systems, or reorient existing remote sensing and/or monitoring technologies towards new and better purposes, but also the invention, construction and deployment of new sensory and visualization tools, driving research in both physical environments – e.g, the design and engineering of sensors, hardware, or new mechanisms for health or ecological monitoring-, as well as in digital environments -simulations, geomaps, interactive models, remote sensing, or automation of processes-, encouraging their application in a multiplicity of fields ranging from the microscopic to the planetary scale.

Themes

The ‘Medios Sintientes‘ Collaborative Prototyping Lab addresses the capacity of sensory technologies to make the invisible visible, and how this visibility has substantial information to conceive the world differently on issues such as health, energy or our relationship with the environment. It does so, however, from a broad understanding of what we consider as technology, to include a technodiversity made of the set of human and non-human media alike and the capacity of these media to contribute to an adequate collective agency.

In Medialab we want to offer open research and production frameworks; specific in their themes but broad enough to incorporate diverse perspectives and interests. We build our laboratories from the chorality of a multiplicity of voices and not from a single point of view.

For more information, be sure to read the complete terms and conditions of the call and take a look at the Lab’s Syllabus, where you will find links and reflections on how LAB mentors approach the topic of ‘Medios Sintientes’

Further information and application form: https://mediossintientes.medialab-matadero.es