We are inviting submissions of artworks that engage with the theme of RADICAL IMMERSIONS: Navigating between virtual/physical environments and information bubbles.

The group exhibition RADICAL IMMERSIONS will engage critically with ideas, beliefs and practices of immersion in relation to digital culture and new media. The exhibition will take place at Watermans from 6-20 September 2019. It will run in parallel with this year’s Digital Research in the Humanities & Arts (DRHA) conference, which will address the same theme and take place from 8-10 September.

Over the past years, immersive technologies have been hyped as consumer gadgets, entertainment media and the future of exhibition practices. The free distribution of VR headsets with smartphones and the increasing interest of museums, festivals and other cultural organisers towards ‘immersive digital content’ have quickly turned VR and AR devices and applications into widely recognized cultural artefacts. However, just like many earlier ‘new media’ before them, the hyperbolic promises attached to these technologies’ supposed capacity to deliver immediacy and trigger a paradigm shift in media culture have thus far hardly become reality. Meanwhile, social media platforms enable the formation of communities where members immerse themselves in networks of alternate facts and realities where conspiracy theories thrive in what at times appear to be alternate rationalities.

The deadline for submissions is Tuesday 30 April 2019

Submission

Please send your proposals via email to nma@watermans.org.uk with subject line ‘Radical Immersions Open Call’.

Proposals should include the following:

– Artist’s name

– Artwork title, description, dimensions, medium

– Artist’s CV and short BIO

– A max. of 5 images of the artwork (and/or max. 1 video file)

Selection

Works for the exhibition will be selected by a curatorial panel led by Klio Krajewska, Head of New Media Arts Development at Watermans. Successful applicants will be notified by email by the end of June 2019. Due to the large number of applications we may not be able to provide feedback to unsuccessful applicants.

Transport and installation of work

Watermans/DRHA will have a technical team to install the work and will be able to provide standard presentation equipment (e.g. video projectors, monitors) We also have a modest budget to cover the transport of artwork if necessary. Unfortunately, we will not be able to cover travel and accommodation expenses for artists. Proposed artworks should be no larger than 2m x 2m x 2m.

About Watermans

Watermans is the major arts centre in West London, housing an independent cinema, a 240-seat theatre, creative spaces for the community, and an internationally renowned contemporary art gallery dedicated to new media art. Watermans’ new media programme is led by Klio Krajewska.