Friday, December 19, 2008

European Biennial Network Residency Program

EUROPEAN BIENNIAL NETWORK - Biennial Exchange and Residency Programme
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OPEN CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
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The following text is from http://www.europeanbiennialnetwork.org

The European Biennial Network is inaugurating its Residency Programme.
In the following months, the member Biennials of the European Biennial Network will be issuing Open Calls for residency positions. Liverpool Biennial will be offering one of these residencies.
The European Biennial Network is a collaborative structure, active in the field of contemporary art, that aims to promote dialogue, interaction and collaboration between contemporary art Biennials in Europe. It intends to use the knowledge, experience and wealth of information accumulated by organisers of large-scale periodic art events, in order to support the communication and mobility of artists and art professionals.
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The Residency Programme of the European Biennial Network aims to offer to successful applicants the opportunity to conduct original research on contemporary art in a major city, while supported by the organisers of a biennial exhibition. The knowledge and experience of the host and its relationship to the specific locality will provide the resident access to the local art scene, historical records, archives, academic collocutors, and any other support necessary for research.
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Each member Biennial of the European Biennial Network is individually responsible for the resident it will host. The position for which this Open Call is made is the following:
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One three-month residency for an artist/writer/urbanist hosted by the Liverpool Biennial, between 1st May 2009 to 30th August 2009.
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Residency position requirements: Liverpool Biennial is inviting proposals for a 3-month residency period that focuses on the interaction of art in local neighbourhoods particularly on the relation between imagination and a sense of place. The candidate will be based alongside residents in north of the city and conduct his/her project in a manner that recognises residents as the first audience.
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North Liverpool is subject to large-scale regeneration programmes with enormous impact on the build environment and social life. The candidate will be expected to fully engage with these issues in relation to the visual arts ecology of the city.
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The outcome of the research/project will be presented as part of Urbanism 2009, a project initiated by Liverpool Biennial along the Leeds-Liverpool canal for September 2009.
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Applications must be made for the specific residency position. The successful applicant will be selected by the Liverpool Biennial. (Please see Application Guidelines below.)
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The successful applicant will be offered travel to and from their host city and accommodation, as well as a stipend of 1.000 euros per month. Additional funds for equipment and/or transport of work may be available, depending on the specifics of the residency.
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Upon completion of the residency, the resident will be required to produce a text, outlining the basic parameters of his/her research, which will be used for publication by the European Biennial Network.
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Application Guidelines:
Applications must be made by cv and a letter of interest (max. 500 words). There is no special application form. In the letter of interest, the applicant must clearly outline how he/she intends to respond to the requirements of the position.
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Applicants may be requested to provide further clarifications and/or additional material, during the selection process. This will not constitute any indication as to the success of the application.
Generic applications, or ones not clearly relating to the requirements of the position, will not be accepted.
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Applications must be in English.
Although the Liverpool Biennial will be selecting the successful applicant, applications must not be sent directly to the Liverpool Biennial. Any such applications will not be accepted. Applications must be sent by e-mail only (attached as word or pdf documents) to the European Biennial Network: contact@europeanbiennialnetwork.org.

Application deadline: 25th January 2009, inclusive.

The successful applicant will be notified by the Liverpool Biennial, after 15th February 2009.
Only the successful applicant will be notified. We regret that due to the volume of applications expected, we cannot individually reply to each applicant.

Biennial Exchange and Residency Programmewith the support of the Culture Programme of the European Union

Friday, December 12, 2008

End of criticism

Famed movie critic Roger Ebert wrote a penetrating analysis of published criticism. Here's an excerpt:
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"Death to film critics! Hail to the CelebCult!"
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"A newspaper film critic is like a canary in a coal mine. When one croaks, get the hell out. The lengthening toll of former film critics acts as a poster child for the self-destruction of American newspapers, which once hoped to be more like the New York Times and now yearn to become more like the National Enquirer. We used to be the town crier. Now we are the neighborhood gossip.
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The crowning blow came this week when the once-magisterial Associated Press imposed a 500-word limit on all of its entertainment writers. The 500-word limit applies to reviews, interviews, news stories, trend pieces and "thinkers." Oh, it can be done. But with 'Synecdoche, New York?'"
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Read the rest of the article here:
http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2008/11/death_to_film_critics_long_liv.html
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This is not only limited to American press and to movie reviews. The same thing can be said about art reviews. Newspapers often get unqualified writers who know nothing about art to write the art reviews which leads to sensationalizing the artist's work or labeling the artist as 'bizarre'. No wonder artists despise journalists!
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In my experience, many editors don't want their writers conducting any deep-thinking analysis or making any controversial points. Instead, they want to keep the art review light-hearted and focused on how much money the work sold for and which celebrities were in attendance. (YAWN) Editors, and by extension, the readers aren't looking for profound ideas to ponder over.
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I have had many situations where I had to dumb down my writing and delete any thought-provoking ideas. Praise the blog.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Economics 101

The recent Flash Art Newsletter contains this funny tidbit:
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"The Gagosian way - A mail from Larry Gagosian to his staff this November:
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'If you would like to continue working for Gagosian I suggest you start to sell some art. Everything is going to be evaluated in this new climate based on performances. I basically put in eighteen hours a day, which any number of people could verify. If you are not willing to make that kind of commitment please let me know. The general economy and also the art economy is clearly headed for some choppy waters; I want to make sure that we are the best swimmers on the block. The luxury of carrying under-performing employees is now a thing of the past.' "
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www.flashartonline.com