[PD-ot] AVLAB 1.0 · Advanced Project Development Workshop in Medialab-Prado, Madrid

[Hans-Christoph Steiner]

Here's the call for a workshop I am involved in.  It's in Madrid at  
Medialab Prado.  They organize these awesome intensive two week  
production workshops.  There is some support if your project gets  
accepted.  Plus if your project gets in, they do a lot of promotion  
afterwards.  For example, the Interactivos 2005 projects were  
exhibited at Ars Electronica and some of the projects from the most  
recent Interactivos are now at Sonar.


http://medialab-prado.es/article/avlab_10

Registration Deadline: July 1, 2008

Director: Javier Duero

Teachers: Francisco López, Hans-Christoph Steiner and a third teacher  
to be confirmed

Coordinator: Daniel González Xavier

Venue: Medialab-Prado, Madrid (Spain)

With the collaboration of EXPERIMENTACLUB 08

and the The Center for the Promotion of Contemporary Music (Centro  
para la Difusión de la Música Contemporánea)
Submission Call Guidelines

This is a call to select no more than 10 projects to be produced  
collectively at an intensive workshop, to be held from September 17  
to October 1, 2008.
Introduction

Widespread digital technologies have established the conditions for a  
set of transformations in languages related to sound and visual  
culture. New technological practices related to artistic creation  
take place in a reality characterized by the dissolution of  
traditional disciplines and the appearance of work processes both  
online and off-line that are transversal and collaborative in nature.  
These chance formations also characterize the ways that projects are  
produced, publicized and distributed, bringing into question the  
concepts such as “work”, “property” and “author”.

In this context of deep cultural changes is important to establish a  
connection between image, the prevailing traditional concepts, and  
sound. Since sound has been generated electronically, its influence  
has meant that experimental music and sound creation have taken on a  
new prominence as specific modes of creation. Their relationship with  
other visual languages such as cinema, television, video games, etc.,  
has enabled the appearance of narrative and aesthetic subgenres which  
have enriched these new forms of expression.

The AVLAB 1.0 call for projects focuses on work within the framework  
of sound as protagonist, in addition to the broad field of  
scientific, anthropological and socio-cultural research related to  
the sound phenomenon.

AVLAB is one of the ongoing programmes at Medialab-Prado (Madrid),  
aimed at the production, research, and dissemination of projects  
related to sound and visual creation. Conceived as a horizontal  
collaborative structure, AVLAB works in a network of other platforms  
and centres related to artistic research.
Objectives of this Call for Projects

· To develop projects related to sound and all practices related with  
the intersection of sound and picture.

· To create a collaborative learning and production environment  
focused on developing audio/video projects.

· To enhance knowledge of new forms of sound expression, alternative  
systems of composition, new forms of interpretation-execution, and  
transmission systems.

· To focus attention on the work process, facilitating access to  
methodologies, documentation and the code of projects produced to  
enable the interchange of knowledge.

· To foster work based on the research, historiography and  
anthropology of sound and audiovisual media.

· To support projects focused on social interaction and a  
relationship with the surrounding environment.

· To promote and facilitate the use of free software tools for  
musical, sound and visual creation.
For Whom

Sound artists, composers, producers, software and hardware  
programmers and developers, historians, anthropologists and any other  
person interested in the objectives of this call for projects.
Characteristics of the Projects

Projects presented individually or by groups related with the  
following fields:

Sound art, live cinema, computer music, circuit bending, audio/video  
processing in real time, design of hardware-software applications  
specifically for audio/video, documentation and historical projects,  
and anthropological and sociological studies.
Characteristics of the Seminar-Workshop

The workshop aims to provide a platform for research, production and  
collective learning which offers maximum support to the development  
of the projects selected. The proposals will be developed in  
multidisciplinary work groups comprising their author(s) and  
interested collaborators, with conceptual and technical advice from  
the teachers.

Upon the announcement of the final selection of the projects  
submitted to this call, in the next stage, a new call will be  
announced for those people who want to participate as collaborators  
in the production process of the works.

During the workshop, various activities will be scheduled such as  
talks, presentations, seminars or specific mini-workshops.

Team work, collaborative methodology, generating discourse through  
the creative process and developing critical thought will be emphasized.

Work days will be adapted to the specific needs of the projects in  
conciliation with the activities organized for the seminar and  
Medialab-Prado norms for all matters related to the hours the centre  
is open.

The workshop will be held partly in English and partly in Spanish,  
without translation.
Number of Projects

No more than 10 individual or group projects will be selected.
Participation Rules

Proposals may be submitted individually or by groups. Each  
participant or team may submit a maximum of two projects.

The projects should be at a stage in their research/development that  
is advanced enough to reach the proposed result during the two week  
workshop.

Those projects that are selected must be open to the participation of  
other interested collaborators who can contribute to the development  
of the pieces during the workshop.
Submission Deadline

The submission deadline is July 1, 2008 at midnight, Madrid time (GMT 
+1).
Assessment Criteria

     *

       Projects' suitability to the objectives of this call for  
projects.
     *

       Originality, educational value and social scope of the proposals.
     *

       Ability to create synergies and stimulated working in a  
network in other settings and projects.
     *

       Use of open code audio-video editing and post-production  
software tools.
     *

       Stage of development of research.
     *

       Clarity in the exposition of the project.
     *

       Technical and logistical feasibility.

Selection Process

Projects will be chosen by consensus by a committee composed of the  
director and teachers at the seminar-workshop and persons in charge  
of Medialab-Prado.

The list of selected projects will be announced on July 15, 2008 on  
the Medialab-Prado website and all applicants will also be informed  
of the announcement by email.
Presenting Workshop Results

The finished works will be presented to the public by their creators  
on the final day of the seminar-workshop.

An exhibit of those projects will remain at Medialab-Prado for a  
month (October 2008).

Those projects will be published on the Medialab-Prado website.
Collaborations

· Medialab-Prado collaborates with the EXPERIMENTACLUB 08 Festival,  
from October 2 through 5, 2008. EXPERIMENTACLUB 08 will exhibit from  
one to three sound and audiovisual art projects chosen based on this  
call for projects. The final number of projects selected will depend  
on their characteristics and size, given that they must fit into the  
space where they will be shown: Space D at La Casa Encendida.

· The Center for the Promotion of Contemporary Music (Centro para la  
Difusión de la Música Contemporánea) will collaborate with AVLAB 1.0  
offering the option to use its facilities to support the development  
of some of the selected projects. This option will depend on the  
availability and according to the conditions stablished by the center.

· Radio 3 RNE will carry out a special programme during the workshop  
broadcast live from Medialab-Prado.
Promoting the projects

Medialab-Prado will offer support in promoting a wider knowledge of  
the projects carried out at AVLAB 1.0, enhancing their visibility and  
facilitating connections with resource and production support  
centres, festivals and other institutions where the projects may be  
exhibited or where their development can continue.
Winners’ obligations

The winning individuals or groups agree to attend the encounter from  
September 17 to October 1, 2008. They also agree to finish their  
proposed projects, as far as possible.

Projects carried out will be the property of their author(s),  
although whenever said projects are shown at festivals or exhibits,  
and whenever images of said projects are reproduced in catalogues or  
websites, their relation with the AVLAB 1.0 Workshop carried out at  
Medialab- Prado should be mentioned. The names of the people who  
collaborated in developing the projects should also be shown.
Technical Requirements

The jury will carefully examine the technical viability of the  
projects. For this reason, a clear specification of the technical and  
spatial requirements of the projects will be positively received.

The projects will be developed and exhibited on the Medialab-Prado  
premises. Medialab-Prad will only provide the equipment and means of  
production for the selected projects if previously requested by the  
project author(s).

Medialab-Prado promotes the use of free software tools. Therefore,  
Medialab-Prado encourages participants to work with shared and open  
code applications and enviroments.

The access and use of Medialab-Prado's technical material will be  
supervised by a coordinator from the center. Any expense not  
previously planned or approved in material or equipment rental will  
be paid by the project authors.
Workspace

Projects will be developed and displayed at Medialab-Prado.

The work/exhibition space has a surface of approximately 120 m2 and  
will be shared by all the selected projects. Each project will have a  
designated space depending on its technical and spatial  
characteristics. Only the projects which can adapt to the  
characteristics of this shared workspace will be selected.

In case of any doubt regarding the spacial requirements of a project,  
the jury will contact the project's author.
Lodging and travel

Pending application and for participants residing outside Madrid,  
Medialab-Prado will provide lodging at a youth hostel for the authors  
of the selected projects.

Medialab-Prado will also cover travel expenses for one person for  
each of the selected projects.
Registration

All those interested in taking part in the workshop must fill in and  
send the application form published below.

Entries Deadline: July 1, 2008 at 24h Madrid Local Time (GMT+1)

+Info: avlab08 at medialab-prado.es



Entry constitutes acceptance of all contest rules.



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Using ReBirth is like trying to play an 808 with a long stick.    - 
David Zicarelli

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If nature has made any one thing less susceptible than all others of  
exclusive property, it is the action of the thinking power called an  
idea, which an individual may exclusively possess as long as he keeps  
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the possession of everyone, and the receiver cannot dispossess  
himself of it.            - Thomas Jefferson