VIS Issue 2, Open Call for Proposals: Estrangement

VIS – Nordic Journal for Artistic Research – opens its call for exposition proposals for Issue 2. The theme is "Estrangement". The call is open between 1 September and 1 November 2018.

Theme for Issue 2: Estrangement

Svetlana Boym writes, in Architecture of the Off-Modern:

By making things strange, the artist does not simply displace them from an everyday context into an artistic framework; he also helps to “return sensation” to life itself, to reinvent the world, to experience it anew. Estrangement is what makes art artistic; but, by the same token, it makes life lively, or worth living. (Buell Center/FORUM Project & Princeton Architectural Press 2008, p. 18–19.)

This is a different notion of estrangement than the use of the term established by Bertolt Brecht in theatre – as a method of enhancing criticality and an awareness of the levels of fiction – as well as from the Marxist use of the term; an alienation of social relations due to wage labour and reification. Boym’s description seems to involve documentarism, collecting and archival activities – practices where things are isolated or combined in an unexpected way; they suggest a resisting of the erosion of memories and a perhaps vain attempt to postpone the slow and gradual disappearance of things.

In artistic research, there is an additional “double” or “second” estrangement that is crucial: after “making things strange” we, as artists and researchers, engage in another process of self-alienation (and self-understanding) in order to look at our own methods “from the outside”. This estrangement from the working process is vital as part of the attempt to find a language that is able to articulate experiences from artistic practice, and even to evolve theories about that practice.

VIS invites those wishing to submit artistic research material that manifests a reflection upon estrangement – be it from the perspective of Brecht, Marxism, Boym, “second strangement” or any other viewpoint. Art works and expositions should have a clear relation to the theme and be conceived for the benefit both of those within the field and those beyond the sphere of artistic research. Expositions in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English are all welcome.

How to apply?

Send your application to visjournal@uniarts.se latest by 1 November 2018. Please, include the following:

1. Written proposal (PDF-format) containing a short description of your exposition (1–2 A4 pages) including how it relates to the theme "Estrangement". Also include language choice for the exposition (English, Swedish, Danish or Norwegian).
2. CV (with country of residence and/or national context).
3. 1–3 examples of previous artistic research/artistic projects/art work. High resolution images, movies and audio files can be sent through wetransfer.com.

Please note that your exposition should not have been published previously. If certain parts of the exposition have been published, please describe how and when in the application.

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Are you a potential peer-reviewer?

VIS is interested in exploring new ideas for the process of peer-review in artistic research. Models that combine rigorous scrutiny of work with a collaborative and developmental process are of particular interest to the Editorial Committee.

As a peer reviewer for VIS, you are an expert in your own field and have a solid knowledge of what artistic research means. It is a great advantage if you are experienced with the exposition format in the database Research Catalogue, or have peer-reviewed expositions and articles in experimental and unconventional formats.

Are you a potential peer-reviewer? Expressions of interest accompanied by an up-to-date curriculum vitae should be sent to: visjournal@uniarts.se

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