INTERACTIVOS?'09: Garage Science - Call for Projects (closed)

CALL FOR PROJECTS

Selected proposals will be developed with the aid of several instructors, technical assistants and the interested collaborators during a production workshop that will take place between January 28 and February 14, 2009.  [Download Call in pdf]

Dates:

Projects Submissions Deadline: 14 December 2008 Midnight, Madrid local time (GMT+1)
Notification of selected proposals: December 29, 2008
Workshop: January 28 through February 14, 2009

Venue:

Medialab-Prado, Madrid (C/ Alameda, 15 · 28014 Madrid, Spain)

Instructors: 

Critical Art Ensemble, (see statement ) and Julian Bleecker 

Assistants:

Carlos Corpa, Steven Pickles (Pix) and Ángela Ramos

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Aim of the call:
The purpose of the call is a selection of a maximum of eight projects for their production in a workshop January  28 and February 14, 2009. The selected projects will be developed with the aid of several instructors, in addition to a large group of assistants and collaborators.

Participants:
The open call is aimed to artists, engineers, programmers, designers, biologists, physicists, teachers or any other person interested in the theme of this call.

Key Words:
Garage Science, critical design, bio-art, mechanical devices, automatons, robots, impossible machines, Rube Goldberg machines, pataphysic, energy, physical computing, free hardware, fabbing, recycling, biocomputing, biology, biohacking, biopunk, “license to fail”.

Collaborative Work:
Proposals may be presented by individuals or groups. Each participant or team may present as many projects as they wish.

The selected projects must be open to the participation of other interested collaborators, who will be able to contribute to the production of the pieces during the development of the workshop. Therefore, there are two levels of involvement with the workshop:

1 - as a project leader
2 - as a collaborator in any one of the selected projects

Once the projects have been selected, the second step in the process will involve a new call for those people who would like to participate in the projects' production. The call for collaborators will be published from December 30, 2008 through January 25, 2009 at the Medialab-Prado's website (www.medialab-prado.es).

General workshop information

Methodology:
This workshop aims to be a collective platform for research, production, and learning, offering substantial help and support in developing the projects selected. The proposals will be carried out in multidisciplinary task groups comprised by the author(s) and interested collaborators, with conceptual and technical advice from the teaching staff.

The necessary means to carry out the selected projects and to document them will be made available by Medialab-Prado Madrid, as far as possible.

During the workshop, various activities will be scheduled such as talks, presentations, seminars or specific mini-workshops.

Work days will be adapted to the specific needs of the projects in conciliation with the activities organized for the seminar and Medialab-Prado's norms for all matters related to the hours the centre is open.

Given that one of the main objectives of the Interactivos? platform is to foster the development, distribution, and free access to new approaches and new technology tools, participants are encouraged to prepare proper documentation for the developed projects, both during and after the workshop, and to publish the results and source code under licenses that grant access and distribution of the knowledge produced during the workshop.

Technical Requirements:
The jury will make a detailed evaluation of the technical feasibility of carrying out the projects. For that reason, projects with clearly specified technical and spatial requirements will be judged positively.

Projects will be carried out and exhibited at the Medialab-Prado building. Medialab-Prado will contribute only the basic equipment and means to produce the selected projects, pending prior application from the proposal’s author(s).

The access and use of Medialab-Prado's technical material will be supervised by a coordinator from the center.

Any expense not previously planned or approved in material or equipment rental will be paid by the project authors.

Medialab-Prado promotes the use of free software tools. Therefore, Medialab-Prado encourages participants to work with shared and open code applications and environments. Should the jury have doubts about any technical requirements, they will contact the authors of the proposal.

Language:
The workshop will be held partly in English and partly in Spanish, with no translation.

Travel and lodging aid:
Pending application, Medialab-Prado will provide lodging in a Youth Hostel for participants residing outside of Madrid. Medialab-Prado will also cover travel expenses wholly or in part for one person per selected project.

Submissions:
All those interested in taking part in the workshop must fill in and submit the online submission form below

Application Deadline: December 14, 2008

Further Information: interactivos[at]medialab-prado.es

Final Decision

Selection committee:
The jury will comprise the workshop instructors and Medialab-Prado.

Assessment of the projects:
Projects will be judged based on:
· Project quality
· Suitability to the general purpose of  Interactivos? and to the specific objectives of this call for projects
· Technical and logistical feasibility; clarity in the exposition of the project
· Combination of various fields of knowledge
· Willingness to collaborate with others in project development
· Use of open software tools and licenses that grant access to the processes and the results
· Educational value

Notification of winners:
Winners will be announced on December 29, 2008 at www.medialab-prado.es. Applicants will receive notification by email.

Projects Promotion:
The finished works will be presented to the public by their creators on the final day of the seminar-workshop.
An exhibit of those projects will remain at Medialab-Prado for nearly a month after the end of the workshop.

In addition, the projects and/or related documentation will be published on the Medialab-Prado's website. Medialab-Prado will provide Web hosting as needed for the projects and also the tools and platforms required by participants to properly document the process and the results.

Winners’ obligations :
The winning individuals or groups agree to attend the workshop and prior Seminar from January 28 through February 14, 2009. They also agree to finish and document their projects, as far as possible.

The winning individuals or groups may use equipment, pending prior application and approval. Any expense not previously planned or approved in material or equipment rental will be paid by the project authors.

Projects carried out will be the property of their author(s), although whenever said projects are shown at festivals or exhibits, and whenever images of said projects are reproduced in catalogues or websites, their relation with the Interactivos? workshop carried out at Medialab-Prado. The names of the people who collaborated in developing the projects should also be shown.

Projects exhibited may be shown in Medialab-Prado's website.


Entry constitutes acceptance of all contest rules.

 > See also the Call for Papers

 

ONLINE SUBMISSION FORM: