This time with FEELing

Applications are now open for This time with FEELing - SPACE’s 2015/2016 residency cycle hosted in the mixed collaborative studio at The White Building, Hackney Wick.

The human body is commonly accepted as the primary site of subjectivity, empathy and affective subcortical processes. However, with the pervasive and increasingly commercial development of Affective Computing and related prosthetic tracking technologies, the narrative of the breakdown of the putative boundary between human and the machine is recast into the popular imagination once again – this time pulling focus on algorithmic affect.

MIT lab faculty Rosalin Picard’s Affdex - a webcam based system that detects “the emotional connection between people and brands” – is a case in point and points towards the assumption that emotion detection is a fast track to the limbic system positioned at the nexus of both our cognitive and lived experience. The growing integration and popular understanding of the nuances of sociotechnical systems disrupts the old binary of the technological “artificial” versus the authentically “natural” human experience. The This time with FEELing residency takes a critical approach to the raiding of these boundaries and questions the commercial drive towards the naturalizing and subsumption of technologies that enable the trading in and simulating of algorithmic emotional capital. The residency and associated public programme also seeks to interrogate the socio-political implications and skewed values of “trust” and “community” orchestrated through the re-articulation of new, hybrid assemblages governed by the iterative co-deployment of socially “relevant” allegorical scripts and software-mediated algorithms.

Submissions are welcomed from emerging artists, creative technologists and hybrid practitioners whose work engages with or responds to this provocation.

RESIDENCY STRUCTURE:

➢ 8 x UK Participants
➢ 3 x International Participants
➢ Residency cycle : runs 3 months
➢ Residencies commence July 15 2015

Deadline for applications: Monday June 15, 5pm GMT

Proposals will be chosen by a panel of leading industry experts.

DATES:
This time with FEELing residencies will be held on the following dates – depending on the individual’s availability.
Residencies:
➢ Summer 2015 – JULY 15 – SEPTEMBER 15
➢ Autumn 2015 – SEPTEMBER 15 – DECEMBER 15
➢ Winter 2015/2016 – DECEMBER 15 – MARCH 16
➢ Spring 2016 – MARCH 16 – JUNE 16
Selected UK artists receive:

- A fee of £1200 for the 3 month residency period
- A production allowance of £600
- Studio space
- Curatorial support and programming opportunities

Selected International Residency artist will receive:

- A 3 - month residency, with a fee of £1500 per month
- A production allowance of £500
- A return flight
- Accommodation
- Studio space
- Curatorial support and programming opportunities
Selected artists/creative technologists will be fully immersed in The White Building’s research and development network and affiliated CoLAB programme. The residency structure provides the opportunity for residents to develop exciting new work at the nexus of art and technology. Residents will be invited to contribute to and participate in programming activity across The White Building and the CoLAB - leading public seminars, exhibiting their work, being a part of educational programming, and helping to direct The White Building’s Research and Development initiatives. Artists and hybrid practitioners are selected in recognition of their proposal’s compatibility with the critical and experimental nature of the 3 month residency structure.
The White Building Residencies support the critical research and development, production and presentation of initiatives dialoguing with art, technology and sustainability. The 3 month residency is conceived as a period of development, immersion and critical investigation for artists and creative technologists working on experimental applications and projects. Past development projects have resulted in performance lectures, moving image experiments, sound and code performances, computing works, beta testing of technical prototypes, installations and public interventions.
How to apply:
Applicants must submit the following:

➢ 1 x Proposal for new project or production to be developed or completed during the residency period (max 2 x pages of A4)
➢ 1 x Artist CV
➢ 1 x Statement of Intent Describing What You Seek to Gain from The Residency
➢ Examples of previous work (Max 8 Images; Max 4 Video Links; Max 1 PDF)
➢ Full Contact Details (including telephone, mobile number and residency address)

Please note that all applications are to be submitted via email: rachel@spacestudios.org.uk.
Equal Opps form is available for download: www.spacestudios.org.uk

White Building residencies are generously supported by Arts Council England and Bloomberg.