ART GALLERY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA | 2015 APPLICATION FORM
DUE MIDNIGHT (WST) FRIDAY 15 MAY INFO@ PROXIMITYFESTIVAL.COM
TO SUBMIT YOUR PROPOSAL, PLEASE PROVIDE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION:
APPLICANT NAME:
ADDRESS:
EMAIL:
PHONE:
WEBSITE:
DID YOU ATTEND THE INFO FORUM OR LISTEN VIA SOUNDCLOUD? [YES] or [NO]
HOW DID YOU FIND OUT ABOUT PROXIMITY FESTIVAL?
TITLE OF PROJECT:
ARTFORM/S:
PREFERRED SPACE AT ART GALLERY OF WA (view maps):
LIST OF PERSONNEL INVOLVED IN YOUR PROJECT & THEIR ROLE/S:
DESCRIPTION: Please submit a one-page description of your proposed one-on-one project. In
your description outline your idea, how you imagine it will be presented in the space/s, and what
happens in the interaction. We advise reading the curatorial guidelines before writing your proposal.
BIOGRAPHY: Please submit a 100-word biography and a one-page CV.
SUPPORT MATERIAL: Please submit one item of material that is in support of your proposed idea.
Support material should be no longer than two pages for images, written script, or conceptual
sketches (PDF only) or 5 minutes of audio or video footage (URL only).
PROXIMITY FESTIVAL 2015 KEY DATES & TIMELINE
PLEASE INDICATE YOUR AVAILABILITY FOR THE FOLLOWING DATES:
Applications open
Applications close
Short-list notified
Curated artists notified
Saturday 28 March
Friday 15 May | Midnight (WST) [email protected]
Wednesday 3 June
Friday 19 June
Short-list showings
Thursday 11 – Sunday 14 June
[YES] or [NO]
Are you available for 1.5 hours to discuss your project and present a rough showing? Interstate
applicants will be asked to provide support material one day in advance and discuss via skype.
Experimental Arts Forum
Development Lab
Monday 5 – Tuesday 6 October
Monday 5 – Friday 9 October &
Monday 12 – Friday 16 October
[YES] or [NO]
[YES] or [NO]
The development lab runs Monday to Friday 9.30am – 5pm at the Art Gallery of Western Australia.
The first two days will involve attending the National Experimental Arts Forum.
Bump-in/ Install
Rehearsal & Dress run
Wednesday 21 – Friday 23 October
Sunday 25 & Monday 26 October
[YES] or [NO]
[YES] or [NO]
Proximity Festival Season
Wednesday 28 – Sunday 1 November
Wednesday 4 – Sunday 8 November
Call times: 11.00am – 5.00pm (TBC)
[YES] or [NO]
Opening Party
De-install
Saturday 31 October
Monday 9 November
[YES] or [NO]
[YES] or [NO]
SUPPORT & PRACTICAL INFO
Selected artists/groups will receive a fee of $2000 + super and workers compensation. If you are
based outside of Western Australia, we will provide per diems, accommodation, and return flights.
Support for international flights is currently funding dependent. Proximity Festivalʼs auspice body
Performing Lines Ltd will contract artists.
Artists/groups will receive the following in-kind support:
• up to three individual mentoring sessions;
• free registration to attend the two-day National Experimental Arts Forum;
• two-weeks of intensive workshops at AGWA facilitated by local and international artists;
• access to a shared studio space at AGWA during the two-week Lab;
• presentation support including marketing, media relations and promotion;
• production consultation and install assistance;
• professional documentation of performances (still photos & high definition video);
• media kit including articles and reviews.
During the Festival, key presenters and venues will be invited to experience the program.
ABOUT PROXIMITY FESTIVAL
Proximity Festival is the first platform in Australia dedicated to the creation and presentation of oneon-one intimate performances. Co-founded by James Berlyn, Sarah Rowbottam and Kelli
Mccluskey in 2011, Proximity Festival provides critical peer support, encouraging artists from all
disciplines to experiment with new modes of practice in the creation of participatory art. As a
curated event, we aim to situate audiences in the middle of unique individual experiences, colliding
artforms to encourage new ways to participate in and experience live performance. In 2015
Proximity Festival will transform the Art Gallery of Western Australia during the day, with intimate
experiences embedded into the daily happens of WAʼs oldest institutional gallery and architectural
landmark. The fourth Festival will take place from 28 October – 8 November 2015; two-weeks of
experimental performances, coffee clubs, parties and workshops. During the performance season,
audiences can experience three different programs of four 15-minute performances.
LAB & MENTORSHIP
Proximity is a highly intensive experience and an opportunity to collaborate with artists from all
artforms, experiment in a mentored environment and develop new ideas for presentation.
The 12 artists / groups curated into the 2015 program participate in a two-week fee-free
development Lab at AGWA prior to the Festival. Co-facilitating the Lab with the Festival curators is
international guest provocateur Helen Cole of In Between Time, whose curatorial prowess has
made her one of the top artistic directors in the UK/EU. The Lab offers artists new opportunities to
rigorously develop their practice, experiment with ideas that embody a sense of creative risk-taking
in one-on-one art making and mentorship in producing and touring. Prior to the Lab, artists will meet
with the curators and assigned mentors to discuss their work. The mentors act as a sounding
board, research advisor, and provocateur.
APPLICATION & CURATORIAL PROCESS
Artists from all disciplines are invited to submit ideas for new 15-minute one-on-one projects.
Performances may take place in private or publically occupied spaces throughout the building – the
stairwell, offices, galleries, courtroom, rooftop, libraries, courtyard, cells etc. We are interested in
projects that are socially, politically or culturally relevant; research based and explores a question,
provocation or concept. Performances must be for one audience member at a time by one artist.
Festival co-curators Sarah Rowbottam and Kelli Mccluskey will be joined by a national curatorium of
leading luminaries who will review submissions. The 2015 curatorium includes: Helen Cole (UK),
James Berlyn (WA), Dr Robert Cook (WA), Dr David Williams (NSW), Jeff Khan (NSW), Emma
Webb (SA), Georgie Meagher (VIC). Up to 20 works will be shortlisted, and artists are invited to
present a showing of their work in-situ at AGWA (or via skype for interstate/ international
applicants). Works are selected by the curators based on the innovation, artistic merit and rigor,
creative adherence to the curatorial guidelines and demonstrated sense of timeliness.
KEY DOWNLOADS & LINKS
2015 Application Form | http://www.proximityfestival.com/apply (available 28 March)
2014 Festival Showreel | Fremantle Arts Centre | http://youtu.be/g5Tj0b3G0SU
2013 Festival Showreel | Perth Institute of Contemporary Art | https://youtu.be/84z9Y1ul_T0
Soundcloud Channel | http://soundcloud.com/proximityfestival/
Art Gallery of Western Australia | http://www.artgallery.wa.gov.au
Proximity Festival | http://www.proximityfestival.com
CURATORIAL GUIDELINES
We are looking for projects which:
• Are experimental and culturally, socially or politically relevant;
• Respond, re-purpose and engage with traditional and non-traditional performance spaces in
the venue;
• Challenge the notion of the audience/ performer relationship in unique and rigorous ways;
• Represent a cross-section of emerging, mid-career and established artist;
• Embody a sense of creative risk-taking in one-on-one art making.
Please consider the following artistic guidelines when writing your project proposals.
Your work:
• Must be presented or performed by one artist/agent to an audience of one. You may work
with a creative team to develop your project;
• Can seek out alternative uses of any spaces identified in the venue as potential
performance areas. Projects may take place in publicly occupied spaces or private spaces;
• Will run for approximately 15 minutes in duration;
• Will have the same artist available and capable of performing 12 performances (one every
15 – 20 minutes) each performance day;
• Will consider the implications of simultaneous performances and general public in one
venue i.e. sound levels, audience interactions etc;
• Will have a risk assessment plan and performer illness or injury contingency plan;
• Will consider tourability;
• Will have its own light and sound sources, using regular power supply;
• Will not rely on the technical infrastructure of the space in which it is performed i.e. lighting
rigs and three-phase power;
• Technical assistance will be available during bump-in, however the artist is responsible for
management and operation of technical requirements during all performances.
APPLICATION CHECK LIST
[
] Have I completed my personal details?
[
] Have I indicated my availability for showings, Lab, install and Festival season?
[
] Have I submitted a one-page max description of my proposed one-on-one project?
[
] Have I submitted a 100-word biography and a one-page CV?
[
] Have I submitted one item of support material (PDF or URL only)?
PLEASE EMAIL YOUR APPLICATIONS BY:
FRIDAY 15 MAY 2015 (MIDNIGHT WST)
[email protected]
ATTN: The Curators – Proximity 2015 Application
E [email protected] W www.proximityfestival.com F facebook.com/proximityfestival