Mikser Festival, Monolog Gallery and the Faculty of Applied Arts in Belgrade invite young authors to participate in the new edition of the BLACK BOX art competition and submit their digital creations by 15 April 2024, responding to this year’s competition theme: NO MIDDLE GROUND. Selected works will comprise a collective multimedia installation at Mikser Festival in Belgrade, 23-25 May.
OPEN CALL 2024: NO MIDDLE GROUND
We invite artists to participate in this year’s “Black Box” exhibition at the Mikser Festival in Belgrade, focusing on the theme of “No Middle Ground”. This open call is accessible to artists worldwide, welcoming digital works submissions.The “Black Box” will become an immersive multimedia exhibition, showcasing carefully selected pieces within an installation space at the Mikser Festival in Belgrade. We encourage submissions that make innovative use of modern technologies.
ABOUT BLACK BOX
The Black Box was initiated in 2015 in cooperation between the Mikser Festival and the Faculty of Applied Arts in Belgrade as a platform for development of young authors in the field of multidisciplinary and experimental arts. An expert jury consisting of well-known artists and educators from the entire region, based on the current topic of the competition, selects authors who will present themselves as part of a collective multimedia installation at the Mikser Festival in Belgrade. The aim of the project is to point out the issues that preoccupy young creators in the contemporary social context, encourage them to express themselves publicly and motivate them to employ their artistic visions in tackling societal challenges. The Black Box also highlights the importance of art experiences in non-gallery, alternative city spaces, their accessibility and exchange with a broad audience, as well as the connection of artistic practice with other spheres of life – science, technologies, economy, politics, and society.
THEME 2024: NO MIDDLE GROUND
Anesthetized with social media saturation and consumed by personal ambitions or struggles, people tend to adopt opportunistic mindsets and find themselves numb to the problems of others, lacking empathy and failing to take a proactive role in preventing injustices in their surroundings. In such a world filled with tepid opinions and lukewarm takes, we believe there is no room for compromise when it comes to defending what is right. As young artists, you have a unique power to challenge the status quo, redefine societal relations, and stand against injustice and conflicts. Your artworks can spark conversations, provoke thoughts, and inspire change.
This year’s slogan “No Middle Ground” seeks out voices that dare to stand out. Whether you choose to address political injustices, environmental degradation, social inequality, or any other pressing issue from your world, we encourage you to do so fearlessly and creatively. We challenge you to push boundaries, break stereotypes, express your unique perspective with unwavering conviction, refuse to compromise, and dismantle the barriers that divide us.
Through video, sound, animation, music, poetry recording, soundscape, or other digital creations, we urge you to be bold, unconventional, and unapologetic. Let your digital artworks serve as a beacon of strength and hope, showing the world that there is no middle ground when it comes to defending what is right.
INTERNATIONAL JURY
Asena Hayal, conceptual artist, curator, producer and art director – Istanbul
Sara Jaafar, architect, 1milimetre Studio – Beirut / Athens
Nikola Damjanov, lead game artist at Nordeus – Belgrade
Dunja Trutin, teaching assistant at Faculty of Fine Arts – Belgrade
Predrag Todorovic, docent at Academy of Fine Arts- Zagreb
Denis Leo Hegic, curator at Monolog Gallery / creative director at Supermarket Lab – Berlin / Belgrade / Istanbul / Athens
Marko Ladjusic, artist, professor at Faculty of Applied Arts – Belgrade
Maja Lalic, architect, creative director of Mikser Festival – Belgrade
AWARDS
The selected artworks will be presented at the Mikser festival 2024, from May 23 to 25 as part of the collective exhibition “Black Box: No Middle Ground” in the format of multimedia installation. In addition to participating in the central art exhibition of Mikser Festival 2024, all award-winning authors will have the opportunity to participate in Artist talks with the project Curators within the Art Zone of the Mikser Festival and attend the Black Box Award Ceremony. One author (or a group of co-authors) selected by the exhibition curators will be additionally awarded with the solo exhibition in Monolog Gallery during 2024 / 2025 season. The gallery award consists of a budget for production, PR and exhibition opening costs.
COMPETITION DEADLINE
Competition is open till 15 april, 2024 at midnight.
WINNERS ANNOUNCEMENT
Winners will be announced on 25 of April, 2024 on mikser.rs.
GENERAL TERMS / ELIGIBILITY
The competition is open to all creators, regardless of origin, country of residence, age, status and formal education. Candidates can be individuals or a group of authors. Each candidate/group can submit more than one work, as separate applications.
COMPETITION SUBJECTS
You can submit multimedia content in digital format that corresponds with the competition theme. Generative art, motion graphics, video art, interactive art, web-based art, data visualization, algorithmic art, sound and digital music composition, digital illustration, 3D modeling and animation, digital photography and photo manipulation, digital collage, voice recordings or visually interpreted texts (poetry, essays, dialogues, etc.)
APPLICATION PROCESS
Applications are submitted via electronic form available at mikser.rs/blackbox2024, which will be active until 15 April, 2024, at midnight. The form collects personal data, biography, contacts, project description and the commonly used “preview” multimedia files (jpg, png, mp3, mpeg, mov, etc.) The preview files up to 5mb can be directly uploaded via form, while files larger than 5mb should be previously uploaded to one of the popular cloud servers (wetransfer, yousendit, google drive, dropbox, etc.)
TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS FOR THE EXHIBITION (in case of selection)
If your work is selected for the collective multimedia installation at Mikser Festival 2024, the organizers will contact you to submit files of higher quality / working files. Acceptable file types: Digital painting and illustration – JPG, PNG, TIFF, PSD, AI, SVG; 3D modeling and animation – OBJ, FBX, BLEND (Blender), MAX (Autodesk 3ds Max), MA (Autodesk Maya), C4D (Cinema 4D); Digital photography and photo manipulation – JPEG/JPG, TIFF, PSD; Digital collages – PSD, JPEG, PNG, TIFF;– SVG, Generative art – Processing sketches (PDE); Motion graphics and video art – MP4, MOV, AVI, GIF; Interactive art – HTML, CSS, JavaScript; Web-based art – HTML, CSS, JavaScript, SVG, PNG, JPEG/JPG, GIF for images; Data visualization – SVG, JSON, CSV, D3.js files; Algorithmic art – Processing sketches, JavaScript, Python scripts, Generative Design Tools proprietary formats; Sound art and digital music composition – WAV, MP3, MIDI, AIFF, Logic Pro project files, Ableton Live project files, etc.
Please note that the above file formats are intended for the final exhibition. For the preview phase, please, submit your works in the simplest preview file type possible, as instructed in the paragraph “Application Process” above.
IMPORTANT NOTES
The selected works will be projected or screened in a physical space utilizing appropriate display equipment and technology. Our production team will reach out to you to discuss the technical specifications and requirements of the exhibition venue as part of the process of preparing and submitting artworks. The Organizers cover the costs of the production of the art installation and organization of the exhibition and accompanying events (Artist talks, the Award ceremony, cocktail, etc). The Authors of the selected works cover for the expenses of their own travel and board related to attending Mikser Festival. The organizers can provide Authors with the official letter if invitation upon request. By submitting the application, candidates confirm that they are the authors of all submitted works and that MIKSER has the right to publish them on all communication channels.
PROJECT TEAM
Exhibition Curators
Marko Lađušić
Denis Leo Hegić
Maja Lalić
Collaborators
Ksenija Pantelić
Tamara Sekulović
Anita Dakić
Organizers
Mikser