Arts Lab

This residency, hosted by the University of Glasgow’s Digital Departures Lab, sets itself against the current highly turbulent and persistently distressing global backdrop. As disruptive as the COVID-19 pandemic has been, it is only one of a number of social, political and ecological crises currently raging throughout the globe and the lack of an apparent end, or solution to, any of these crises can feel constantly overwhelming. It can also cause the act of making, for the maker, to feel somewhat futile and insignificant, both from an individual and a collective perspective. 

 

This residency takes as its premise the recognition that, throughout this turbulent time, engaging with and thinking about creative practice has remained a saving grace for many of us working in arts disciplines, and indeed participation in creative acts has become a commonly-utilised mechanism to support mental health and wellbeing. 

 

Through this virtual residency, we invite an artist of any discipline to enact processes of self-care and repair through making, considering the broader implications of this process both for their own practice and for the wider arts community. The residency will be complemented by a series of discussions and position/provocation sessions, considering making as a mechanism for self-care and wellbeing. It will also be accompanied by a series of (virtual) social events and the development of regular online meditative and mindfulness sessions, with some of these likely involving the process of making in some form.

What do we mean by a virtual residency?

 

As lockdown and other restrictions continue, we won’t be able to physically host the chosen artist at the University. What we mean by a virtual residency is that the artist will spend a period of time ‘in residence’ with the University through meeting regularly with the residency team to discuss their work and contributing to regular reading, making or thinking group sessions with staff and postgraduate students. The format and frequency of these sessions will be decided by the residency team and artist in consultation, but we would anticipate a time commitment of c. 2 hours every 2-3 weeks. The artist may also be asked to have informal conversations with some of our taught and research postgraduate students about the development of their own practice-based work.

 

Unusually, we do not anticipate a finished ‘work’ or series of works as the primary outcome for the residency – though should finished works result this would be welcome – but are instead interested in the artist’s interrogation of their process and method as a means of self-care, repair and recovery, however this may be enacted. As a minimum, we would ask the chosen artist to submit a reflective summary, report or creative interpretation of the processes and methods they explored through the residency, alongside a short entry for the Digital Departures Lab and School of Culture and Creative Arts blog and School of Humanities website. 

 

 

Eligibility

 

We are seeking early career artists, not currently in full-time education, from any discipline and the modes and mechanisms of the work undertaken are not prescriptive. However, the residency is being hosted by the Digital Departures Lab at the University of Glasgow, whose research ethos is:

 

1. To explore the potential for creative art and design when dominant media systems are repurposed or challenged
2. To investigate how deviant media practices can create new opportunities for research
3. To explore theoretical questions raised by deviant media practices.
4. To inquire into the history of misuse, practices of hacking, and the resistance to dominant media frameworks.

 

Consequently, we would particularly welcome applications from artists whose existing practice embraces one or more of these thematic trajectories.

 

We define early career artists in this context as broadly being within 8 years of beginning their professional practice, which may be for example after graduating from a degree or masters programme. We are specifically seeking artists of this type to provide a platform for the development of their work and in recognition of the extraordinary difficulties faced particularly by early career and establishing artists in the current circumstances.

 

Fee:

 

The selected artist will receive a fee of £1000, with an additional budget of up to £500 for production costs. The artist will benefit from the support and community of the Digital Departures Lab, specifically the lab directors Tim Barker, Sarah Cook and Louise Harris, and the School of Culture and Creative Arts’ Collaborations and Cultural Activities Committee, alongside access to appropriate University resources where this is both safe and necessary. 

 

Application Process

 

To apply for the residency, please submit the following as a single .pdf (maximum 5mb) file to arts-digital-departures-lab@glasgow.ac.uk by Friday 19th March at 11:59pm:

 

• A short, up-to-date artist CV with current contact details (no more than 2 pages of A4).
• A statement of intention for the residency, detailing how you will explore making as an act of self-care or repair and what you feel you and your practice could contribute to the residency (no more than 1 page A4). If you feel you are likely to need the additional up-to £500 for production costs, please give some indication of what you expect to spend this budget on.
• Supporting materials, including an artist statement on your practice to date and documentation of some of your recent work. This can be include up to 5 clearly labelled images, or 5 hyperlinks to online examples of work.

 

Please note:

 

The artist will be selected based on the strength and originality of their proposal and its relationship to both the theme of the residency and its context within the University and the Digital Departures Lab.

 

We welcome applicants from any country, but the working language of the residency will be English.

 

The successful applicant will be informed of their selection in w/c 5th April 2021 and will be expected to begin their virtual residency in w/c 19^th April 2021.

 

If you would like to discuss the residency in more detail ahead of submitting your application, please email arts-digital-departures-lab@glasgow.ac.uk

 

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First published: 2 February 2021