Open Concept Gallery is currently accepting submissions for its annual multimedia arts festival to be held on March 30th, 2012 in Grand Rapids, MI. Smart Festival is Michigan’s only multimedia arts festival, and it was created by Open Concept Gallery in 2008 to encourage creativity and innovation in art happening now. The festival values collaboration, diversity, and accessibility, and is open to all local, national, and international artists exploring the possibilities of the new media genre in contemporary art. The week long event attracts hundreds of participants and features free openings, performances, and “accidental encounters with art” in and around Grand Rapids’ most significant cultural institutions.
This year’s Smart Festival will feature the sculpture Big Mind Sky, by contemporary Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone. The large scale neon sculpture encapsulates and makes palpable our unnamed collective desire to achieve new heights and expand our cultural awareness. To further explore these ideals, Smart Festival will be accepting new media art that analyzes the effect of internet technology on personal and social identity. The internet has allowed society to rapidly construct alternate realities and norms for communication that are constantly evolving. As online censorship debates abound a critical analysis and reflection on the impact of a virtual online world and its effect on our definitions of reality, personal identity, and a greater social consciousness.
The Application deadline is February24th, 2012. All information and entry forms can be found at www.SMart.OpenConceptGallery.org
Application forms must be completed for each entry.
Please also include the following: A brief biography of yourself of 200 words or less, along with an artist's statement. In the case of multiple artists of a work, information on each artist is required. Please provide a short summary of each work submitted including title and year of production.
Entries must be received no later than February 24th, 2012.
Mail entries to:
SMart Festival 2012
Open Concept Gallery
50 Louis St NW
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
USA
