Summary User Generated Content is an exhibition about social media, self-publishing and the virtual environments that we create for ourselves. We are interested in how these ‘highly accessible’ self-publishing tools and ‘user generated content’ has had an affect on creative practice in conjunction with the recent explosion of such sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Blogspot, YouTube, Vimeo etc. We want to find creative practitioners who are responding to the recent developments by removing them from the interface and transforming into a tangible form or experience. We will be documenting this process via our blog.

Call for Participation– Deadline: April 25, 2011 :: Who: Emerging practitioners :: Location: MadLab, 36-40 Edge Street, Manchester, M4 1HN :: When: Public Preview: June 2, 2011 | Exhibition: June 3 – 16, 2011.

USER GENERATED CONTENT is an exhibition about social media, self-publishing and the virtual environments that we create for ourselves. The exhibition will be an exploration into the deepening relationship we now have with technology with regards to the social aspects of our lives.

The term ‘social media’ has been defined by Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein – and has been categorised into 6 different forms. These have been identified as collaborative projects, blogs and microblogs, content communities, social networking sites, virtual game worlds, and virtual communities. User Generated Content is a term to describe the various interactive online activities.

We are interested in how these ‘highly accessible’ self-publishing tools and ‘user generated content’ has had an affect on creative practice in conjunction with the recent explosion of such sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Blogspot, YouTube, Vimeo etc. We want to find creative practitioners who are responding to the recent developments by removing them from the interface and transforming into a tangible form or experience.

The work should not remain digital but can be realized in many different formats. For example it could be an event, participatory game, kinetic sculpture, an interactive toy, design product, ceramic, craft piece, photograph, literature, sound piece, film, book, an arduino product, song, a performance. Your submission should reflect on some level either your relationship with social media (in any of its formats) or comment on it as a whole. The only requirement is that it needs to exist in the real world.

Who:

Blank Media Collective is looking for anyone from emerging artists and innovators who create work responding to the theme of social media.

This is open to people who may or may not define themselves as artists, designers, performers, musicians, filmmakers, writers, obsessives, bloggers, app makers, digital programmers, ceramicists, textile artists, printers, html coders, hackers, scientists, hobbyists, inventors, hackers, crafters, photographers, filmmakers, performers, printmakers and anyone else who will respond to the recent explosion the use of social media. This list is not exhaustive but an example of the diverse range of practitioners we would like to see submit.

How to submit:

Deadlines for Submission: 25th April 2011
Artists will be notified by Monday 2 May 2011

Existing work

If you are submitting existing work:

* A short written statement explaining the work (500 words maximum)
* Images (2-5) of the work. These should be jpeg low resolution images.
* Dimensions (cm)
* Materials used
* Installation requirements (e.g. if you need technical equipment; projector, DVD player, TV etc)

Proposal of new work:
* Detailed proposal of work; written statement about the work and ideas (500 words max)
* Images of past work
* Materials to be used
* Dimensions (approximate)
* Installation Requirements

Deadline for the arrival of work: 20th May
Install Dates: 21st May- 1st of June
Please be aware we will need the work to be complete and ready for installation by 20 May at the very latest.

Please contact Marcelle Holt / Taneesha Ahmed if you would need any more information / assistance about the submission process. Submissions should be sent via email in PDF or .doc format to exhibitions@blankmediacollective.org FA0 Marcelle Holt and Taneesha Ahmed.

Drop in Sessions:

Blank Media Collective Curators Taneesha Ahmed and Marcelle Holt will be holding a series of informal drop-in sessions at MadLab. The first will be Monday 11 April, 5-7pm. This is an opportunity to chat about the exhibition, discuss and even show current projects and ideas.

Online references include:

We will be discussing ideas about the project at:
http://usergeneratedcontent.posterous.com/
www.blankmediacollective.org [Blank Media Collective official website]
http://MadLab.org.uk/ [ MadLab wesbite]