PLUG IN & EXIST

Deadline: December 18, 2020 (11:59PM EST)

Curated by Dana Snow and Sean Sandusky

This virtual exhibition seeks to intersect queer life and online presence through new media art.

In the wake of COVID-19, the 2SLGBTQIA+ community has witnessed a shuttering of physical spaces for queer and trans people to create meaningful work, spark discourse, find connection and foster the irrevocable togetherness of queer and trans solidarity. In an accelerated trajectory of closures, queer art returns to the space that has always seemed like a home to us: the internet. Internet art holds a special place for trans folks and queer folks as a tool of resistance and expression. As two queer curators, we are drawn back to early memories of where we first found ourselves online: subcultural political posts and re-blogged GIFs on Tumblr, our first Myspace boyfriend, our intersections and collective feeling explained in meandering LiveJournal posts.

In popular online spaces today, monetization systems require queer folks to either radicalize or tokenize themselves to be discoverable within their algorithms. We aim to revisit a space for queer and trans artists that exists outside of monetization and “advertiser friendly” content. In this exhibition, we are imagining an online space built for queer and trans folks, rather than one that co-opts their aesthetics. We hope to continue a queer canon of internet-based practices on a virtual platform that supports 2SLGBTQIA+ creators beyond mere ‘representation’, fostering a sense of togetherness in a time of isolation.

We encourage submitting artists to consider the following questions:

● How do we communicate online without being run through a database for monetization?

● What does it look like when 2SLGBTQIA+ creators exist beyond a corporatized idea of radicalization and tokenization?

● What does a platform to discover ourselves through discovering others look like?

● What does a platform to fall in love look like?

● What does it mean when we take a load off each other’s shoulders, plug in and exist unburdened, online?

We are inviting works that utilize virtual space to its fullest, including: webcam performance; net art; social media practices, including memes, selfie culture, celebrity icon culture; interactive web-based works; and interdisciplinary practices highlighting queer culture on the internet.

This exhibition prioritizes 2SLGBTQIA+ artists, especially BIPOC members of the community.


SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

● Project description (250 words)

● Artist statement (250 words)

● Documentation (maximum five images and one video; please provide URLs)

● Detailed description of technical requirements (please outline materials provided by the artist and materials expected from InterAccess)

● Current CV (3 pages maximum)

● Artist biography (100 words)

Please submit your application using our online application form. If you have questions about applying, please contact iacurrent@interaccess.org.

EXHIBITION DETAILS

● This exhibition will take place online from February 24 – March 27, 2021

● Selected artists will be notified in January 2021

● All artworks must be ready for exhibition by January 22, 2021

● All participating artists will receive a CARFAC fee

ABOUT IA CURRENT

The InterAccess Current (IA Current) program supports the professional development of emerging curators and artists interested in new media and electronic practices. Each year, InterAccess selects an emerging curator, who works closely with InterAccess staff to conceptualize and execute an exhibition of works by emerging artists. “Current” refers to the now, of course, but it is also an energetic charge that causes light, heat and all manner of electronic life; an apt metaphor for emergent creative practices within the ever-expanding field of new media.



Image: Kevin Holliday, RIP, 2017. Presented as part of the 2017 IA Current exhibition, Transcendence, curated by Stacie Ant.