Aktionsart + NewHive Open Call for Submissions: Black Box

NewHive and Aktionsart

Open Call for Submissions

Theme: Black Box


We are pleased to be partnering with NewHive to accept submissions for Black Box 2.0! 

Respond to the theme of "black box" by May 1, 2015, using NewHive's multimedia publishing platform.


Black box is a widely used term that refers to many things: movie theaters, transistors, flight recorders, algorithms, the human brain. It is also an abstract theory that relies on observable inputs and outputs to define the invisible functions of a device, network or object. The box is “black” because the opaque facade obstructs visibility. In order to understand the internal workings of the box, one must enter its system.

Bruno Latour uses blackboxing to describe "the way scientific and technical work is made invisible by its own success. When a machine runs efficiently, when a matter of fact is settled, one need focus only on its inputs and outputs and not on its internal complexity. Thus, paradoxically, the more science and technology succeed, the more opaque and obscure they become.”

In an artistic context, black box theory provides a way to explore systems of the unknown which are widely accepted by society - particularly the social, political, ethical, and aesthetic implications concealed within a culture increasingly shaped by technology. How might art reveal black boxes? Is art, itself, a black box?
 

What has cinema become in this new landscape that the Internet created, between the black box of the movie theater and the white cube of the art gallery?


We’re inviting artists to submit work that responds to these ideas using NewHive’s multimedia publishing platform. Artists are encouraged to design pages with original text, animations, audio, and videos, or make use of NewHive’s code editor to build a page from scratch. The top selections will be on display during Black Box - a new art, film and technology festival produced by Aktionsart in partnership with Seattle Art Museum, Seattle International Film Festival, Cornish College of the Arts, and the Center for Digital Arts and Experimental Media at the University of Washington.


Submissions will be accepted through NewHive until May 1, 2015.

Save your artwork with the tag #BlackBoxing for consideration.


About New Hive

NewHive is a multimedia publishing platform that provides a blank space and custom tools to simplify the process of creating rich experiences on the web. Committed to supporting its vibrant community, NewHive commissions projects, publishes interviews, and partners with institutions to increase the visibility of net-based practices.