FORMAT announces 2021 Open Call theme: CONTROL
We can be in control, out of control, beyond control. Control can be passive as with a remote control or progressive as in birth control. It can offer science a control group and be an expression of power as in command and control.
“If you don’t control your mind, someone else will” – John Allston
We all seek to control our own lives while resisting control by others. Control has come to denote power and oppression yet we want to “take back control”.
We live in a transformative time as the COVID19 virus challenges our way of life, our economies and potentially our politics. Political control through lockdowns may have saved lives but mistrust of government propaganda has led people to take to the streets to march against the old order and protest against the prescribed colonial histories. What will the “new normal” look like?
who controls the present controls the past”
George Orwell [1984]
We invite you to take part in FORMAT21 by entering the Open Call with work that looks at CONTROL. We welcome a wide range of interpretations of the theme and look forward to being challenged by your ideas and approaches.
Send us your projects that involve archives, documentary and conceptual photography from all image-based genres including VR, moving image, performance and multi-media.
Both individual artists and collectives are invited to submit their work and we also encourage curators to put forward proposals based on the theme.
To find out how to apply click here.