What Does Life After Death Look Like?

Artist Call Out

The impetus behind this call out is to ignite a conversation. Does Life After Death look like anything at all? Does it have a sound frequency,  colour combination, a pattern?

Life, Death, Creation, Birth. Born Again, Die Again, and All Those Oddities In The Middle. 

Each one of us has a unique perspective on this, and yet, this question also contains the fundamental shared experience of being alive, in the here and now, asking these questions and creating ungraspable, absurd things like art, poetry and portals to the unmanifested.

The litany of unknowing, diabolical and divine ways this question could be interpreted has aroused my curiosity and I’m looking forward to receiving your submissions.


The Artist Call Out

I am inviting artists, performers and writers, as well as those who don’t identify as artists of any kind, to contribute to an online catalogue responding to the question, 'What Does Life After Death Look Like?'

Alongside this I will be curating an exhibition at The Moving Gallery, Sunderland entitled 'What Does Life After Death Look Like?' For this exhibition I will be selecting approximately 12 works, 4-6 of which will be performances. The choice and exact number of works selected for the exhibition will be informed by the curation process. (The way artworks work together and the use of space.)

The exhibition will contain a selection of the submitted works alongside my work. There will be two event nights where I am inviting performance artists to perform, with the idea of igniting the space, bringing the audience into a slightly altered state of consciousness from which to experience the rest of the work. Consider: An acknowledgement, an enquiry, a celebration of death/life.

Dates

Submissions OPEN: 25 June 2023

Submission DEADLINE: 25 July 2023, 11:59pm

Exhibition dates (TBC): Wednesday 13th - Tuesday 26th September.

Exhibition Location: The Moving Gallery, 27 Fawcett Street, Sunniside, Sunderland, SR1 1RE

Performance events: Friday 15th September and Saturday 23rd September. 

Artists selected for exhibition will receive an email by Friday 18th August 2023.

For the exhibition, you will need to deliver your work to me by 1st September. We can discuss over email to decide the best way for you to get your work to the space. 

Public exhibition walk and talk Date: TBC

Workshop Dates: TBC

— — —

What kind of artworks am I looking for? 

Performance - Live sound performance, dance, spoken word, theatrical, ritual, other.

Written - Short fiction, poetry, other, no more than 1 A4 page.

Visual Art - (Wall Hung) - Print, Painting, Drawing, Other 

Sculpture - Stand alone, on plinth, wall hung.

Moving Image - Up to 12 mins

Equipment: It is preferable that you source your own equipment, but where this is not possible you can request what you need and I will endeavour to supply it. 

Submission of Artworks

You may make up to 5 submissions.

Submissions OPEN: 25 June 2023

Submission DEADLINE: 25 July 2023, 11:59pm

Using WeTransfer, please send to: lifeafterdeathopencall@gmail.com

Please send up to 2 images of your work, 

OR a link to your work (any length)

OR upload a video of up to 1 minute, 

OR a piece of text (e.g poetry) of up to 1 A4 page (PDF or image file), 

OR a sound clip of up to 2 minutes (mp3, mp4).

Title your files with your full name (and title of your work, if it fits.) 

And 

In an email please send the following details to: lifeafterdeathopencall@gmail.com

  • Title, Date, Media, dimensions of the work submitted. 

  • Is the work finished?

  • What equipment do you need, if any?

  • Do you have special instructions for the installation of your work?

  • What is your social media? (Optional)

  • In 5 - 500 words can you share something about the work you are submitting and how you have related it to the question, “What Does Life After Death Look Like?’ (There is no wrong way of writing this.)

If you have any questions, please email Amy at: lifeafterdeathopencall@gmail.com

Donations

Submission suggested donation,  £5. Donation is not mandatory and will not influence which works are selected for the physical exhibition. The money will support me in carrying out the tasks involved in the project.


Regarding the future of this project

To allow for the evolution of this project, I may apply for funding to create a book / a physical catalogue containing a dialog between the submitted works, emerging conversation,  the online catalogue and the exhibition. I may also find a larger space in which to curate a second exhibition showing more of your submitted works.

But let's see how this goes first.

Fin.