Low Lives 3: Call for Proposals — Deadline: March 20. Contact: keoqui(at)gmail(dot)com.

Now entering its third year, Low Lives is an international exhibition of live performance-based works transmitted via the internet and projected in real time at multiple venues throughout the U.S. and around the world. Low Lives examines works that critically investigate, challenge, and extend the potential of performance practice presented live through online broadcasting networks. These networks provide a new alternative and efficient medium for presenting, viewing, and archiving performances. Low Lives is not simply about the presentation of performative gestures at a particular place and time but also about the transmission of these moments and what gets lost, conveyed, blurred, and reconfigured when utilizing this medium. Low Lives embraces works with a lo-fi aesthetic such as low pixel image and sound quality, contributing to a raw, DIY and sometimes voyeuristic quality in the transmission and reception of the work.

Low Lives is pleased to announce a strategic partnership with Chez Bushwick, an artist-run organization based in Brooklyn, New York dedicated to the advancement of interdisciplinary art and performance, with a strong focus on new choreography. Chez Bushwick is co-producing Low Lives 3 and is instrumental in extending the platform’s international reach. Low Lives 3 will feature a ’spotlight’ on Contemporary Choreography throughout the exhibition program.

Artists working in any media are invited to submit proposals for live performance-based works.

Selection Process:

Each Presenting Partner (see list below) will follow their curatorial process to select one performance to take place at their venue. In addition, 30 artists will be selected from artist proposals responding to this Call for Artists, and will be invited to present their work across the Low Lives network. These performances will be transmitted through the internet from a location of the artists’ choice. The Selections Committee will be comprised of Directors and Curators from each of the Presenting Partner institutions. A full-color catalog and companion DVD with information and an image for each participating artist will be produced for Low Lives 3 after the exhibition takes place.

Artists selected to participate in this exhibition will be instructed on how to transmit their performance through a live online broadcasting network. Performances will be projected in real time across the Low Lives 3 network of Presenting Partners and venues. The exhibit will also be available for online viewing, both in real time as it unfolds across political boundaries and time zones, and on the Low Lives website after the event.

Artists interested in participating in Low Lives 3 are encouraged to visit www.lowlives.net to view previous Low Lives exhibition catalogs and performance videos.

Presenting Partners*

Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA) (Salt Lake City, Utah)
Real Art Ways (Harford, Connecticut)
The Performance Art Institute (San Francisco, California)
the temporary space (Japan)
Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA) (Portland, Oregon)
On the Boards Seattle, Washington)
Obsidian Arts (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
Mindpirates (Berlin, Germany)
Mascher Space Co-op (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Living Arts (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
La Perrera (Oaxaca, Mexico)
LAP!_Laboratório de Acão & Performance (Espírito Santo, Brazil)
Konic Thtr (Barcelona, Spain)
Fusebox Festival (Austin, Texas)
Elon University (Elon, North Carolina)
DiverseWorks (Houston, Texas)
Diaspora Vibe Gallery (Miami, Florida)
Co-Lab (Austin, Texas)
Chez Bushwick (Brooklyn, New York)
Center for Performance Research (CPR) (Brooklyn, New York)
Attakalari Centre for Movement Arts (Bangalore, India)
Aljira, A Center for Contemporary Art (Newark, New Jersey)
Alice Yard (Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago)

*This list includes Presenting Partners who are confirmed as of 2/14/11. Additional Presenting Partners may be added before the event date.

Submission Requirements (Note: Incomplete applications will not be considered):

- Artists can submit written proposals for previously created works or new work to be considered. You may include links to artist websites or other web destinations
- Only proposals for live performances will be considered
- Duration of proposed works must be under 5 minutes
- Artist statement including how work relates to Low Lives exhibition concept
- Up to 4 jpeg images, no larger than 300 dpi, that support your proposal
- Artist Bio
- CV or Resume
- Email complete materials to keoqui@gmail.com with Low Lives 3 Submission in subject line

Eligibility:
In an effort to allow the Low Lives platform to include as many artists as possible, artists who participated in Low Lives 2 are not eligible to participate in Low Lives 3.

Important Dates:
March 20, 2011: Submission deadline
April 1, 2011: Artists notified on selection
April 29, 2011: Low Lives 3 Exhibition- Day 1 - 8:00pm – 11:00pm (U.S. EST)
April 30, 2011: Low Lives 3 Exhibition- Day 2 - 3:00pm – 6:00pm (U.S. EST)

Founder/Producer/Curator

Jorge Rojas is a multidisciplinary artist and independent curator. He employs both traditional and new media, as well as performative elements to investigate communication systems and the effect of technology on artistic production, social structures and communities. His work and curatorial projects have been exhibited in galleries and museums across México, the United States, India and Brazil. Since 2009, he produces and curates Low Lives, an international, multi-venue exhibition of live, networked performances. Born in Morelos, México.

Co-Producer

Chez Bushwick, an artist-run organization based in Brooklyn, is dedicated to the advancement of interdisciplinary art and performance, with a strong focus on new choreography. Since its inception in 2002, the organization has been acknowledged as a new model for economic sustainability in the performing arts, offering New York City’s only $5 subsidy for rehearsal space, and thereby fostering the creation, development, and performance of new work. Chez Bushwick is also responsible for a number of monthly performance programs that encourage artistic freedom, collaboration, and creative risk-taking.