Open Call

Open Call / Request for Proposals

Vladimir’s Underpants Unfolded

A sonic and media experience on the go
Deadline: January 18, 2019

Project Overview

NewTown is pleased to announce the Open Call for Vladimir’s Underpants Unfolded, a sonic and media exhibition at Union Station in downtown LA, following last year’s first iteration of fun in Old Town Pasadena. This event will provide another unique experience for pedestrians, afford invaluable exposure for the artists and provide an opportunity to pair up with a sonic or media artist to create a theater of sound and light in the distinctive space on the curving staircase at the east end of Union Station.

  • Date/Time: Friday, March 8, 2019; 4 – 6 pm
  • Location: The east staircase at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles
  • Honorarium: $300 per artist
  • Contact: Leonard Rusch, Project Coordinator • LeonardRusch9@gmail.com

Guidelines

  • Duration: 30 – 45 minutes performances. (There will be 3 sets with different artist pairs over a period of about 2 hours, with about 5 minutes between sets.)
  • Original: the work must be new, generated specifically for Vladimir’s Underpants Unfolded
  • Site-Specific: proposals must respond to the physical space, which is dominated by the wide curving staircase, the high walls and the glass ceiling. We strongly urge you to visit the site during commuter hours before crafting your proposals.
  • Commuters: proposals should acknowledge and engage the people using the space during the peak commuter hours, meaning the work should engage commuters quickly as they move to their next destination, and also engage those viewers who stop for a longer period.
  • We welcome acoustic works, vocal compositions, sound experiments, as well as digital/electronic/synthesized compositions. The sonic component should be performed live. If necessary, small amps can be used, although we encourage an acoustic experience.
  • For visual media artists, you will use hand-held, cordless projectors (provided by NewTown), allowing maximum versatility and maneuverability.
  • You may submit alone as either a sonic or visual artist and we will match you up with your partner. Alternatively, you may submit your proposal as a sonic/visual pair. NewTown will aid in smooth collaboration between all paired artists. We encourage the visual and sonic artists to interact with each other during the performance.

Audience:

Union Station is a major west coast transit hub, and the performances will take place during peak commuter hours on a Friday evening. Proposals should be engaging over a short period of time to accommodate pedestrian traffic, as most audience members will be on their way home or another destination and may not linger to watch an entire performance.

To Apply

To Apply: email all questions and materials listed below to Project Coordinator, Leonard Rusch, LeonardRusch9@gmail.com by January 18th, 2019.

  • Resume and one paragraph biography.
  • One-page project proposal which includes:
    • A description of the sonic or video work to be presented and how it will interact with the stairwell space.
    • A short (1-2 minutes) sampling of what the work will be.
  • Up to 7 audio samples, images or video links of your past work. Websites should be cited only as supplemental work samples, not sole documentation.

 

Vladimir’s Underpants Unfolded is made possible in part with a grant from the: