Call for Contributions to the publication of the artistic research platform Landing

Landing

Call for Contributions to the first publication of the international artistic research platform Landing. Our issue is titled Edge of the Glacier.

The Focus of Landing

Landing focuses on how practice-based research is done on the ground, in the studio, in the world, with and through materials. Rather than existing in the space of theory and speculation, Landing is focused on the doing side of research methods. It wants to operate as an open conversation and resource for fellow practitioners.

Context

Landing is located in Vilnius, Lithuania, in the Baltic sea region. We are interested in embracing the fringes and the outposts, and we acknowledge how access to both sea and forest impacts our research. Rivers and extending horizons, both historical and future-bound, mark us as those sitting on the edge of the last glacier. Landing proposes a collective shaping of research through art, where cultivating a vibrant ecosystem is enacted in a non-competitive ambiance that celebrates diverse disciplinary thought and expression. 

Landing is a grounding move in an atmosphere of floating, one which refuses claims for art’s exceptionalism. In lieu of a narrative of originality, our first publication seeks connections across the fibre of doing research. We are looking for descriptions of methods that can be generative for the inquiry of another researcher. Rather than echoing the trending terms of the day, we choose to stay with close-reading practices that have gone before and that are going on around us. Nothing is done alone or for the first time.

Contributions

Landing uses an adjusted model of the peer reviewed journal, one which is better suited to the demands of research in the arts. By combining peer review with alternative forms of research communication, we enable the singularity of individual enquiry and wish to embrace diverse forms. The form of Landing thus develops from the traditional journal yet seeks to be open and transmutable. Each iterative edition will build on the learning of the previous one, including the evolving interests of the candidates of the doctoral department of Vilnius Academy of Arts.

Issue 1 - Edge of the Glacier

Landing’s first publication, web-based and print, centres on the theme ‘Edge of the Glacier’.  We invite you to contribute through under three thematic threads. These are intentionally left open to allow for a range of transdisciplinary approaches to emerge. A contribution may fall under multiple threads.

Thematic Threads
1) Methods with Ecological Systems 

2) Reproducing Ignorance [in the face of knowing] 

3) Ecopoetics as Material Practice

Types of content:

We invite propositions to convene on the three thematic threads ‘Edge of the Glacier’ in the following forms. Up to two-three forms can be combined.

1. Essay (up to 3000 words)
Speculative or reflexive. Images and moving images are accepted, as well as video essays as research.

2. Open questions
What are some of the questions in your research that you cannot answer, are too afraid to answer, or are avoiding? Provide some context to embed the nature of these in your research practice.

3. Photo series
Max 10 images with captions. Provide an introductory text to contextualise the research practice.

4. Workshop plan with instructions 
Provide an introductory text to contextualise the research practice. What is the workshop doing for students, fellow practitioners etc. We imagine a particular setting, something that was done and informed the research substantially.

5. Instructions
A set of instructions for gestures, interventions, and a description of how they emerged in the research. What is the method in these and how do they contribute to the research?

6. Recipes in context
There’s a phrase in Lithuanian, “parodyk virtuvę”, which means show me the kitchen. This is used when one wants to precisely know the secrets for preparing something, such as a particularly tasty dish or a hack. Share the recipe of doing something that moves your research forward.

7. Descriptions of processes 
(We first saw this done in Jason Bowman’s and Mick Wilson’s workshop within the Research Methods course at Gothenburg University. Used with permission.)

Identify one specific practical action or activity that contributes to the scaffolding of your research or research task. This should not be theoretical reading. While creating this description, explain what you can find out more about by doing this activity. How does one design something that is both specific but not so restricted that the result is entirely predictable. A possible structure can be:

• Briefly Introduce the research problem.
• Explain the aim of the activity.
• Describe the activity/action.
• Account for its specific Design.

8. Interviews with proximate practices
Dialogics - how might the use of conversation or shared dialogue explore the meaning of something and how might you bring another into that setting? We welcome attempts to do so.

9. Anecdote as expressed in image or text.

10. Research Catalogue exposition
RC expositions which have been adapted specifically for this call are also welcome.

* Please note some submissions may be asked to provide a context statement to be included in the journal. 

The hybrid format of Landing enables digital submissions alongside material that can be shared in print format.  Landing recognises that while English is the language used in this call, it is not the only working language of the artistic research community and it is not the language of artistic research. Landing is designed to be multilingual - we accept submissions in all languages and will endeavour to support researchers with translations into English / Lithuanian.

How to submit a contribution

Dates and Deadlines:

July 15th - Expression of interest 

Using a maximum 2-page document, send us a 500 word description  and/or images as required that includes the following points:

• the context of your research
• the main concern of your inquiry
• the form you’ve chosen and why
• what that has to do with method

All submissions must clearly state the aims of the material, its communicating form, how they align with the theme and how they will communicate the research. 

Send your expression of interest to landing@vda.lt by July 15th. 

September 15th - All material submitted for peer review. This is the deadline for finalising your submission. 

Landing is supported by an editorial board of recognised researchers in the arts including: Ruth Anderwald + Leonhard Grond, Dr Arnas Anskaitis (Vilnius Academy of Arts), Bjarki Bragasson (Iceland University of the Arts / Listaháskóli Íslands) Dr. Kieron Broadhurst (Curtin University), Dr Julija Fomina (Vilnius Academy of the Arts), Dr. Nina Liebenberg (Uniarts Helsinki),  Dr Vytautas Michelkevičius (Vilnius Academy of Arts), Dr. Marquard Smith (Journal of Visual Culture), Bryndís Snæbjörnsdóttir and Mark Wilson (Iceland University of the Arts / Listaháskóli Íslands), Dr. Rūta Spelskytė (Vilnius Academy of Arts), Dr Ash Tower (Adelaide Central School of Art), Dr. phil. Kathrin Gollwitzer-Oh (University of the Arts Bremen).

More about the initiative read on the site of Doctoral Department of Vilnius Academy of Arts.