Touch Me Festival is an international triennial transdisciplinary artistic project dedicated to the progressive integration of contemporary art, science, and technology.
The fifth edition entitled “Dark matter or The Invisible that Surround Us”, a project curated by Mónica Bello in collaboration with KONTEJNER, refers to those hidden events and phenomena that cannot reach us at any degree of perceptual significance. The term dark matter responds to a mysterious substance that constitutes most of the matter that exists in the universe. Although scientists are not certain what dark matter is made of – as it is not in the form of planetarian objects or stars that we can see – it constitutes up to the 27% of the matter observed by physics measurements.
The fact is that dark matter is invisible to our eyes and even our current advanced technology cannot capture it. It does not interact with electromagnetic forces and therefore it does not absorb, reflect or emit light. As one of the great scientific mysteries of the present, dark matter can be taken as a metaphor of what nature is, what the hidden valleys of knowledge are about and what is formed of. In an era defined by the power of modeling and simulations, dark matter can be seen as a symbol of the limits of our understanding and perception.
What is the invisible and the unknown that constructs our universe? How can the traces of hidden phenomena be guessed? What does science provide and how can non-systematic languages such art can shake and shape new research paradigms? How can we imagine something that is there but exists beyond our comprehension? And how can this be imagined and thought of as multiple identities and non-scientific forms?
“Dark matter or The Invisible that Surround Us” intends to explore how artists define, design and build up creative modes for exploration and interaction within the hidden events that lie within the core of nature. In the same way that dark matter wouldn’t affect us in a noticeably way – since it only interacts with gravity or through forces that are too weak to detect – the artworks presented here exhibit subtle ways of interaction.
Open call requirements
- The application should contain a written description of a proposed project, brief technical description of the project, budget and financial plan for the production of the project and sketches and/or photo/video-documentation;
- Both existing and new works can be submitted to the open call;
- Applications from individuals and collectives residing in Croatia can be submitted.
The applications can be submitted by e-mail: natjecaj@kontejner.org, the online application form at www.kontejner.org or sent to the following postal address:
KONTEJNER
Gundulićeva 35
10000 Zagreb
Croatia
Results of the open call will be announced to the selected authors by May 2017.
