[artinfo] Call for artists/designers to produce four banners to "A Total Spectacle"

[art.news]

++Summary++

Seeking artists/designers to create four banners 
that will be digitally printed in Winnipeg 
(Canada) for presentation as part of an 
exhibition titled "A Total Spectacle" opening May 
17, 2013.


++Background++

"La dottrina del fascismo" ("The Doctrine of 
Fascism"), written by Giovanni Gentile in 1932 
and attributed to Benito Mussolini in 1933, 
describes fascism as the harmonization of 
business and labour in the interest of the State. 
Appreciating Mussolini's commitment to reduced 
taxation and union busting, wealthy business 
owners granted him their support before realizing 
he aimed to personally control Italy's various 
industries by means of a dictatorship. As the 
self-declared undisputed head of state, Mussolini 
detested bourgeois luxury and ultimately 
dismissed the authority of business owners as 
subordinate to his own. Business owners in 
Germany experienced similar difficulty 
controlling Adolph Hitler, the dictator they 
funded as a way to control striking workers by 
proxy.

Through the course of events associated with 
World War II, Mussolini's Fascism and Hitler's 
Nazism were dismantled. Around this time, wealthy 
business owners and other members of the global 
elite figured something out: why buy social 
control via individual, charismatic leaders when 
you can buy the whole system instead? 
Representing what became known as the Austrian 
school of Economics, Friedrich Hayek and Ludwig 
von Mises co-organized a meeting in 1947 at Hôtel 
du Parc, near Vevey, Switzerland, that 
established a European economic federation called 
The Mont Pelerin Society. Designed to promote 
aggressive liberal/anti-socialist ideology 
through a decentralized network, the Society 
facilitated the development and funding of think 
tanks, policy makers, and lobby groups, as well 
as the grooming of politicians and backing of 
favourable candidates. Simultaneously, through 
concentrated ownership of the media producing an 
increasingly narrow spectrum of discourse, 
corporatist ideologues have compelled large 
segments of society into willingly surrender many 
of the human and environmental rights gained 
since the end of World War II. Seduce 'em with 
consumer goods. Distract 'em with vapid 
entertainment. Control 'em with fear. That is how 
to harmonize the workers and the state in the 
interests of business.


++Exhibition concept++

"A Total Spectacle" will be an exhibition of 
interdisciplinary work by contemporary artists 
presented with photos, videos, and other items 
culled from mass culture in a format that takes 
cues from blockbuster exhibitions throughout 
history from Mussolini's 1932 "Mostra della 
rivoluzione fascista" ("Exhibition of the Fascist 
Revolution") to contemporary for-profit 
infotainment exhibitions-in-a-box type 
productions. Playing humourously on notions of 
authority, this "homemade" spectacle about 
spectacle will address everyday neoliberal 
practices intended to cultivate social control 
through seduction, diversion, and fear.

Since no exhibition about totalitarianism and 
spectacle would be complete without banners, this 
project seeks an artist/designer to create a 
series of four banners that will hang from the 
ceiling of the exhibition space to frame four 
sub-topics: power, sex, consumption, and fear.


++Submission requirements and deadline++

Please submit low resolution concept drawings 
(.eps, .jpg., .pdf, or .tif) for four banners in 
a mock corporate style to represent each of the 
following four "values": power, sex, consumption, 
and fear.

A design concept that references the way 
corporate values are presented in promotional 
material such as shareholder reports and/or print 
advertising is ideal. Any range of colours may be 
used, but less ink means better affordability; 
please create an image that makes ample use of 
white space, especially if you would like your 
completed banners mailed to you at the end of the 
exhibition.

Submissions should be accompanied by:
-- a brief artist statement
-- a few examples of past work (i.e. links to projects)

Please send submissions to contact at shintai-z.com 
by Saturday, February 23, 2013. Late submissions 
will not be considered. The selected 
artist/designer will be notified within one week, 
and all others will be notified shortly 
thereafter.


++Specifications for selected work++

Four banners will be digitally printed at Martha 
Street Studios (Manitoba Printmakers Association) 
for presentation as part of the exhibition 
mentioned above. The banners will hang from the 
ceiling. The file specifications are as follows:

-- One banner per file to represent each of the 
following "values": power, sex, consumption, fear
-- Any range of colours may be used, but less ink 
means better affordability; please create an 
image that makes ample use of white space, 
especially if you would like your completed 
banners mailed to you at the end of the exhibition
-- Finished dimensions of each banner must be: 
36" (91 cm) wide x 72" (182 cm) long
-- 360 dpi preferred; 300 dpi acceptable
-- .tif or .eps preferred; .jpg acceptable
-- print-ready files must be provided by Monday, April 22, 2013


++Compensation++

The selected artist/designer will receive an 
exhibition fee exceeding the minimum 
recommendations set forth by CARFAC Canadian 
Artists' Representation / Le Front des artistes 
canadiens for 2013 in the category applying to 
group shows featuring 6 -10 artists (Category I). 
The artist fee will be payable in Canadian 
dollars via electronic means for automatic 
currency conversion where applicable. The banners 
will be printed at Martha Street Studios 
(Manitoba Printmakers Association) in Winnipeg. 
Every effort will be made to ship the finished 
work to the artist following the exhibition, 
budget permitting.


Thank you so much! I look forward to your submissions!

With all best regards,
Milena Placentile, Curator

_