[artinfo] Jan van Eyck Academie Call for Applications

[Art&Education]

Call for applications
Imaginary Property
-- research project
Deadline: 15 June 2008

<
http://www.janvaneyck.nl> http://www.janvaneyck.nl
 
Artists, designers and theoreticians are invited to submit proposals 
for individual or collective research projects for a one-year, 
two-year or variable research period in the department of Design

The research project Imaginary Property consists of three parts that 
are inextricably linked up with each other and are to be addressed 
simultaneously rather than consecutively.

The first part is analytical in nature and traces the primarily 
non-juridical impact as well as the practical implications of the 
concept of 'imaginary property' through various disciplines such as 
philosophy, psychoanalysis, economics, cybernetics, architecture, new 
media and design theory. The analytical part will start off with a 
symposium (on 6th June) that shows the scope of the project and its 
impact on contemporary design practices. The symposium will bring 
about an interview and lecture series in which guest speakers partake.

The second part consists of a series of evaluations and examinations 
of experimental design, 'counter-design' or 're-design' projects. 
Specific proposals for new models of ownership based on open-source 
and free circulation of networked images will be developed and 
realized. Supposing that images are the products of struggles for 
imagination, this part examines in a practical way how social 
relationships are configured, designed and performed in connection 
with the images that are supposed to be owned, used and displayed as 
one's property. The relationship between the owner of an image and 
the image owned is not at issue in this project. Imaginary Property 
deals with the imagination and the redrawing of social relationships 
with people who could also use and enjoy images, modify or alter 
images, play images or play with images. Is it possible, practically 
and conceptually, to (reverse) engineer 'imaginary property'? How to 
show highly valuable images and visualize processes in a way that 
anticipates and allows for modulations, modifications and 
unpredictable proliferation? Can a museum redesign a show and make it 
or even parts of its collection freely accessible through the digital 
public domain? Is it possible for a political campaign to go fully 
'open source'? How can such a public release be realized and what 
would it actually look like?

Thirdly, the results of the analytical part and the examinations will 
be documented more or less in real-time and made accessible on a 
multimedia website. The idea is further to make a publication in 
print as well as a collaborative, networked video project.

The research project Imaginary Property is looking for design 
practitioners who wish to tackle fundamental issues and query 
conventions of disciplines such as film, multimedia, web design, 
networking and architecture. It further seeks to involve 
theory-minded researchers who are not afraid of 'an image'.

Symposium: 6 June 2008

Application
Candidates interested in this project can apply by submitting a 
research proposal. Selected candidates gain the position of 
researcher at the Design department of the Jan van Eyck Academie.

For more information on the practical side of your application, 
financial questions, and other matters, please consult< 
http://www.janvaneyck.nl> http://www.janvaneyck.nl or contact the 
academy via Leon Westenberg, leon.westenberg at janvaneyck.nl, telephone 
+31 (0)43 350 37 24.