ACT ART 7 - ARTISTS CALL

ARTISTS CALL: ACT ART 7 - CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED WITH OVER 100 PARTICIPATING ARTISTS FRIDAY 6th NOVEMBER 2009 BETWEEN 7.30PM-5AM (shows from 7.30pm and continue all night) @ HIDDEN, 100 TINWORTH STREET, VAUXHALL, LONDON, SE11 5EQ, U.K. The 7th annual ACT ART event CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED addresses 'DIFFERENCE'. What is it that makes us different? What does being ‘normal’ or ‘different’ really mean? Does the way a person looks or acts define them as ‘different’? Or is it more routed in what is considered to be the ‘norm’ by the majority? Do we really embrace difference? Or is it merely tolerated or accepted because of equal opportunities and human rights? Making up the masses are those whose instincts are to conform and go with the crowd. They go along with the majority and take its beliefs to heart, often through no fault of their own, having it bred into them from an early age, handed down from one generation to the next, or brainwashed subversively by the media. There are those in society who form the mass and others who are more individualist, standing up for what they believe in at all cost. People are often treated as outcasts, shunned and used as scapegoats because of the way they look, act, or inter-act within society, and are therefore frowned upon and sidelined as not being ‘normal’. Individualists are willing and also able to think and act differently from what is regarded as the ‘norm’, often this isn’t even a choice as it’s born into their personality and psyche or as a result of a life experience. “It is not our differences that divide us, it’s our ability to recognise, accept and celebrate those differences”. Audre Lorde Artists are invited to either respond to this year’s theme/ title or propose work that’s unrelated. We programme work in all mediums including performance, live art, video/ film, 2D and 3D works. This year there’s 5 large projection screens for video/film screenings in the venue and more live areas than ever before including: 1 main stage, 1 large theatre space, 4 live art areas and several 1-2-1 or pay per view performance spaces. FOR MORE INFO AND TO MAKE A PROPOSAL VISIT WWW.ACTART.CO.UK PROPOSAL DEADLINE: WEDNESDAY 1st JULY 2009. ACT ART is curated by Oliver Frost and Marc Massive. ACT ART events have been staged annually for the past 7 years (since 2003). ACT ART is run by artists for artists and people interested in art. ACT ART aims to create an event that celebrates difference within artistic practices, supports cross-discipline ways of working and offers a safe environment to exhibit work in all disciplines, including live art, performance, video, installation, 2D and 3D work. With a particular emphasis on works that are experimental, radical, challenging, confrontational and non-mainstream. ACT ART programmes work by both emerging and established artists, as well as individuals operating in artistic sub cultures, all of which are united by an interest in the body, have understanding of interdisciplinary and/ or marginalised art practices. ACT ART aims to show work by artists that work on the edge of the art world, were the boundaries between art and alternative scenes come together. ACT ART believes in bringing emerging artists together alongside more established practitioners in an attempt to create a dialogue between the artists and their work. ACT ART aims to create a space where artists can show their work in a different context to the elitist gallery system, each event so far has been staged in unexpected places (for example) a church, a public house, and a series of railway arches. ACT ART aims to programme a diverse selection of work, some of which can be difficult to watch, and deals with issues that many galleries and institutions shy away from.