OPEN CALL
Calling all artists, creative dabblers, and first-timers!
Announcing an OPEN CALL for contributions to Anthology for Unseen, a BOOK PUBLICATION to be printed December 2022.
We, Amanda Bauer and Ruoyi Shi, are two artists collaborating on a book publication of cross-disciplinary works of art, inviting you to submit your work.
Our theme is “evidence of COVID-19 lockdown and quarantine time.”
As the whole world struggled to keep infections at bay, each of us went through our own individual experience. Engaging with fewer people while practicing social distance caused us all to adjust our connections with our communities. We present this book as a space for ‘unseen’ moments we might have shared in community, if not for the pandemic. In creating this project, we offer our skills as curators, editors, designers, publishers––and contributors.
PROMPT
How did you respond to shelter-in-place orders, lockdown or quarantine time? What did you do with that time? What did you make? What were the challenges? What gave you hope or made you smile? What are the traces of your footsteps?
You may already have something to submit, or you might make something new. Your submission might reflect memories, dreams, thoughts, documentation, activities, strategies, stories, recipes––it is up to you.
MEDIUM
We are open to all kinds of media, including photos, drawings, paintings, short stories (up to 2000 words), poems, cell phone pics, notes, recipes, lists, videos, sculpture or sound recording. It need not be a formal work of art, or a finished piece.
WHY
We want to connect with the community we lost touch with and begin processing experiences which may not otherwise be brought to light. This book is by and for people who want to contribute to a dialog related to the isolation and adjustments our whole world has gone through since the pandemic outbreak. This is an opportunity to have a voice and to use it to share something about what you went through personally.
Since this affected everyone, we will not limit eligibility to artists alone. We want to hear from all kinds of people—from the trained and skillful, to the expressive and self-taught. We are inviting artists, non-artists, dabblers, ‘first-time-attempters,’ people of all ages, sexes and ethnicities to submit their stories, images and creative endeavors. Please join us!
Our final outcome will be a book, supported primarily by the REEF Artist Residency, Los Angeles, 2022. Contributors to the book will receive a copy of the publication.
ELIGIBILITY
Anyone is eligible to submit up to 2 pieces.
(You need a Gmail account to access the form.)
HOW TO SUBMIT
Submit up to 2 images or links per person, through this FORM.
(You need a Gmail account to access the form.)
FORMAT
Please use the following naming convention for your files: “FirstName_LastName_Title_Location_Year_01”
[Example: “Jane_Smith_PicturesDuringQuarantine_LosAngeles_2021_01.jpg”]
Format your images as JPG at 1500px (longest side), at 72 dpi. You can attach these images to your submission form or you can email them to AnthologyForUnseen@gmail.com.
For video and audio submissions please upload your work to Vimeo, Youtube (or similar) and include the link (with password, if private) in the designated space on the submission form.
DEADLINE TO SUBMIT
EXTENDED DEADLINE: May 25, 2022 at 11:59 PM Pacific Time
Submissions open: March 18, 2022
Submissions close: May 25, 2022
(You need a Gmail account to access the form.)
CONSENT
By submitting your art work, images and media links, you are consenting to give us permission to publish your artwork, online and in print, for the sole purpose of the following publication project: Anthology for Unseen.
The purpose of this project is to foster healing, build community and connect with people through stories and creative endeavors. Your work will be credited to you, with the city and country of your origin. You retain the copyright to all your images and works of art.
RESPONSE
UPDATE! (June 30, 2022)
Thank you for your submission to the Anthology for Unseen. We sent you an email, but just in case you missed it, we want to let you know we received so many creative submissions that we actually need a little more time to look at each piece. We said we would have all selections finalized by June 30, but we are in fact behind schedule.
Our apologies for the delay, but we will be back in touch with you by July 15, 2022. Thank you so much for sharing your work with us and for being so patient with our process. We are excited to move to the next step!
RESPONSE
We will be responding to potential contributors by June 30, 2022 to let them know if their work has been selected for publication. If selected, contributors will receive a free copy of the book once it is printed.
Selected contributors may also receive an invitation to participate in a panel discussion, held at the REEF building in downtown Los Angeles, expected to occur in November, 2022.
WHO WE ARE
Amanda Bauer and Ruoyi Shi are two interdisciplinary artists working together with the REEF Artist Residency in downtown Los Angeles. We have invited other artists to collaborate with us, including Zoe Strauss. To read more about us visit the About page.