ABOUT MAXmachina
Artists and creative teams are invited to submit project proposals for live and interactive works-in-progress that reach completion with 7 months of project development. We aim to be expansive in how we define what a generative artist can be, and we encourage artists and technologists alike to propose work that challenges dominant modes of categorization, crosses disciplines, and enlivens our connection to live storytelling. Applicants may propose work in dance, music, theater, experimental performance, and media arts that include a live aspect.
We welcome projects that make familiar ideas unfamiliar. Using traditional forms to illuminate the impact of science and technology particularly aligns with our mission, we appreciate a simple story well told. We hope to create critical conversations informed by science that encourage expansive ways of thinking.
GUIDING QUESTIONS
These are some of the questions that interest us and inform our programming:
- How can live arts expand awareness and a sense of agency around an increasingly digitized experience to a more diverse audience?
- How can we use live arts to expand presence in the virtual?
- How are we able to expand our senses to become more connected and more responsible inhabitants of the planet?
- What is humanness amidst a growing awareness of other species and other intelligences?
ELIGIBILITY
- We are seeking proposals for in-progress works that have not been presented in New York City.
- This call is open to emerging and mid-career makers, including those who do not traditionally work in live arts.
- Past applicants can reapply with new/revised material.
We welcome applications that unsettle the historical norms of science, tech, and performance with new perspectives, new voices, and new dialogues. Note that this year’s MAXmachina residency will support existing work in various states of development (from mid-stage to near completion). If you have any eligibility questions, please contact info@mediaartxploration.org.
WHAT WE PROVIDE
- Artist funding up to $7500
- 7 month project development period, with 1 workshop and 1 final festival presentation
MAX’s additional support includes creative development, admin expertise, and production support of workshop and presentation. Selected artists are expected to be in dialogue with MAX and their network of scientific advisors and engineers who are curated to support the development of individual works.
HOW TO APPLY
Application questions and material can be found in the application portal, linked here.
Applications must be submitted through the MAX application portal form. For ease of applying we recommend you prepare your answers offline and then drop them in the portal.
Applications will be assessed according to the following criteria:
- Clarity of concept
- Alignment with MAX goals
- Creative potential
- Feasibility of execution and presentation
- Availability of artist/artist team for mandatory quarterly cohort convenings, workshop periods, and the public winter 2023/2024 presentation.
TIMELINE
November 15, 2022 Application Opens
February 1, 2023, 11:59PM EST Submission Deadline
February – March 2023 Panel Adjudication
April 2023 Residency recipients announced
ABOUT MAX
MEDIA ART XPLORATION (MAX) produces live and interactive arts that harness and interrogate the scientific advances of our time.
Our goal is to bring storytellers, artists, scientists, technologists, and audiences where they have never been before, giving thinkers in various disciplines an opportunity to explore and imagine the future of our planet.
MAX sprung from the observation that civic engagement with and awareness of scientific and technological change needs to grow. We strive to make the work we present accessible to all. We support artists of diverse interests and backgrounds in order to foster a more equitable world.
We support the development of new work in our laboratory, MAXmachina and present the work at a biennial festival. These artists are featured alongside scientists and curators in our discussion series, MAXforum. MAXmachina supported work has moved onto national and international venues including MASS MoCA, Boston Museum of Science, and IDFA.
We have presented two biennial festivals, MAXlive 2019: A Space Festival, performing in premier venues in San Francisco and MAXlive The Neuroverse in New York. With essential support from venue partners including the Exploratorium, California Academy of Sciences, Z Space, New York Live Arts and ONX Studios, we collaborated with over 150 artists and scientists to reach over 12,000 audience members.We rose to the challenges of the pandemic by launching MAXVirtual, a platform for live art pieces created and curated specifically to be shared online.
Producing Director Kay Matschullat
Creative Project Manager Ryan Gedrich
Development & Strategy Manager Lingling Yang
Administrative Director Mariam Suffrand