ArtScience Residency 2022 enabled by Deutsche Telekom

ArtScience Residency 2022 Open Call

Together with Ars Electronica, the Art Collection Deutsche Telekom enables artistic research through scientific in the ArtScience Residency. The goal is to exhibit an artwork dedicated to the challenging questions around digitalization and AI at the Ars Electronica Festival in September 2022.

The Art Collection Deutsche Telekom aims to address the social and political changes that took place after the fall of the Iron Curtain and to promote a broader understanding of Europe’s cultural diversity through the visual arts. The focus is on contemporary art from Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. In line with this mission, the ArtScience residency is dedicated to artists from this region or who stand in close relation with it, who work at the intersection of art, technology and science and who are particularly interested in researching the social impact of technological developments.

What we are calling for?

We are calling for artistic concepts for objects, installations, artefacts, performances, screenings, or interventions from the area of Interactive Art, BioArt, Hybrid Art, AI & Life Sciences, Sound Art, Net Art, Digital Communities and Art Activism. The aim of the artwork must be to critically question technological developments and tools around the following keywords:
Digitalization and AI, digital humanism, sustainability, climate justice, digital democracy, transformation of society, transparency, democracy, fairness, ethics, global equity, and inclusion.

The Residency

The residency is a fully funded opportunity for artists, designers, or artist collectives to create new dimensions in their artistic practice through encounters with the scientific and corporate world. The proposal can be a new idea or a continuation of an existing research or project. In addition, the residency offers to showcase this project at Ars Electronica Festival as well as to communicate the work internationally via the channels of Ars Electronica as well as of Deutsche Telekom.

Scientific Partner — 2022

In 2022, the Bonn Sustainable AI Lab, located at the University of Bonn’s Institute of Science and Ethics, will act as scientific partner. It will offer the artist in residence an introduction and access to the scientific research of the Sustainable AI Lab, which is focused on addressing the often hidden environmental and related social and economic costs of designing, developing, and using AI across society.
The research done in the lab covers the impact of AI in diverse settings (e.g., migration, city development, healthcare, data collection and analysis, art). The questions to be explored span multiple disciplines and levels of analysis, for example: the normative rationale for the value of sustainability; the strength of the concept of sustainability; how to measure the environmental costs of AI; understanding the intergenerational impacts of AI; and informing public policy guidelines for the development of green, proportionate, and sustainable uses of AI.
The lab will offer the artist a workshop with the whole Sustainable AI Lab team as well as one-on-one meetings with the members of the lab to introduce him/her to their research.
The scientific residency will be supervised by the Alexander von Humboldt Professor for Applied Ethics of AI, Prof. Dr. Aimee van Wynsberghe and her team at the Sustainable AI Lab, and the external researcher and advisor to the lab Dr. Gry Hasselbalch.

Structure

Part One: a period of 4-8 weeks in first half of 2022 as scientific mentoring process including a public event in Bonn or Berlin at the venues of the Deutsche Telekom (approx. 1 week at science organization; further exchange remotely; details TBA).
Part Two: a production residency for a period of about one month at the Ars Electronica Linz until latest end of August 2022.
Part Three: public presentation at the end of the residency at Ars Electronica Festival 2022 including potential participation in events.

Benefits

One artistic project will be supported with this next iteration. The artist wins a residency consisting of €15,500 artist fee and production cost*.
The fee structure is:
€ 3,000 artist fee
€10,000 production costs for which a proposal is required.
Up to €2,500 travel, accommodation and subsistence, including: 1 trip to scientific partner and 1 trip Ars Electronica
Support from Ars Electronica staff and Ars Electronica Festival.

*In case the winning party is an artist duo or artist group the artist fee, production costs as well as travel and accommodation costs need to be split between the members.

Commitment

The winning artist(s) will be expected to

  • participate in remote exchange with science partner and Ars Electronica.
  • participate in a research workshop with science partner on site.
  • give public lectures or workshops in Linz and potentially in the place of the scientific partner
  • share experience and engagement during the residency on social media
  • provide Ars Electronica images about the research journey to cross-promote the experience (minimum once a month starting with the site-visit in science organization)
  • coordinate the production budget together with your Ars Electronica project manager.
  • develop and create an artwork for the Ars Electronica Festival. The winner of the ArtScience Residency must make a commitment to attending the Ars Electronica Festival 2022.

All property rights and any other rights remain with the artist. The artists agree to include the following acknowledgement in all future exhibitions and documentations of the work:
This artwork was developed during the ArtScience Residency, enabled by the partnership of Ars Electronica and Deutsche Telekom and with the support of Bonn Sustainable AI Lab.

The Jury Decision

The jury members are Antje Hundhausen (Vice President Brand Experience, Deutsche Telekom), Rainald Schumacher / Nathalie Hoyos (Office for Art), Prof. Dr. Aimee van Wysnberghe (Sustainable AI Lab), Gerfried Stocker und Martin Honzik (Ars Electronica) .

Criteria

  • Originality: The proposal needs to be for original work that demonstrably breaks new ground.
  • Feasibility: The proposal needs to be doable in the time and budget available.
  • Interest in the ArtScience Programe and the science partners activities.
  • Innovative and compelling concept.
  • Quality of the past work and projects showcase in the portfolio.
  • Further: the applicants have to
    • be above the age of 18.
    • be from Eastern or South Eastern Europe or have a close connection to this region. Eligible countries are: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine
    • register online and submit all mandatory information in English on the application platform.
      • A short video statement explaining who the applicant is, what the proposal entails and what the interesting angle about it is. (up to 1 min.)
      • A written project proposal explaining the research idea. (max. 300 words)
      • A brief description of the artist’s expectations regarding the collaboration with the scientists. (max. 300 words)
      • A short draft production plan for the residency including a timeline and cost estimation.
      • A CV and portfolio which showcases previous artworks of the applicant.
      • Agree with the Open Call Rights

Open Call Rights

Notification

The winners of the ArtScience Residency Program will be notified immediately after the jury meeting in March 2020. We request that the entrant, or a representative named by him/her, is available during the period when winners will be notified. Winners will be contacted using the details specified in the entry form.

Covid-19 Statement

It is important to emphasize that whilst we are planning the ArtScience Residency Program, we recognize that there may still be some restrictions on public life and international travel in the future. Therefore, we will continue to monitor the situation and take government advice and implement any necessary changes or adapt the event as best we can within the given timeframes. We will continue to explore scenarios that might be forced upon us in the event that the emergency extends further into the year and endeavor to inform partners and artists of any changes in a timely manner and provide clarity to participating artists and partners as well as our communities. We hope that you will understand if changes need to be made and we can work together to get through these strange times.

Questions? Email us artscience-residency@ars.electronica.art