Beyond Function
a juried exhibition of three-dimensional forms
Arts + Literature Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin seeks submissions for Beyond Function, a national juried group exhibition of three-dimensional forms that construct, obstruct, and reimagine function.
As purposes, roles, or means to various ends, functions are integral to our personal and collective lives. While the kettle has clear utilitarian value in heating water for tea, tea-drinking serves other kinds of cultural, relational, and ritualistic functions. What a fur-covered teacup lacks in practicality, it gains in symbolic and aesthetic significance. Functions can overlap in various ways; they contradict or work in unison, replace or build upon one another. Whether singular or multi-faceted, personal or political, all types of function depend on context. What does our present moment reveal about function as a point of departure to create new form and meaning?
Artists are invited to submit three-dimensional works that explore function (or dysfunction) in physical, social, personal, political, theoretical, utilitarian, biological, cognitive, mathematical, symbolic, or futuristic terms. All 3D media will be considered for review, including objects, sculptures, and installations (freestanding or wall-mounted). Artists whose works challenge or reimagine existing functions—or envision functional needs of the future—are especially encouraged to apply.
JUROR
Gail Simpson is a sculptor and public artist who works on projects individually and as part of Actual Size Artworks, a collaborative team with Aristotle Georgiades. She has an MFA in Sculpture from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and resides in Stoughton, Wisconsin. Her public art projects can be seen in Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin, Kansas, North Carolina, Nevada, Illinois and other locations nationally. She has also exhibited temporary projects around the United States and Europe. Her projects reflect her interest in the built and natural environment and her involvement with local community issues. She teaches at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
EXHIBITION PRIZE: one artist will be selected to participate in a 2017 two-person show at Arts + Literature Laboratory.
DEADLINE: April 23, 2016
SUBMIT: http://artlitlab.org/download/beyond-function-prospectus.pdf
