In public: Experiment / Think / Collaborate / Test / Collect / Run / Talk / Cook / Develop / Share / Dance / Gather / Learn / Mark / Make
Testing Grounds is calling for Public Art Park ‘23 participants.
This year’s program includes a six-week lab (7 August — 22 September) culminating in a two-week public program during Melbourne Fringe Festival (7 — 22 October).
Testing Grounds is located at Market Square within the Queen Victoria Market Precinct. We’re looking for contextually-led ideas for public spaces across any medium and duration. Individuals, collectives, students and practitioners from diverse creative fields are all encouraged to apply.
Applications are now open and close at 9pm on 12 July 2023
Let us know you are interested in being part of the program by submitting a simple application below outlining your practice, interests and initial ideas about working in public space and the market precinct, as well as your availability to participate in the program.
Agenda
Civic; relating to and involving:
- being of this time and place, and negotiating public spaces collectively;
- long-form discourse – conversations rather than declarations; and
- awareness of agency and obligations.
Conceptual; relating to and involving:
- thoughts, beliefs and principles;
- collaboration and generation of ideas; and
- acts of learning and experimentation.
Collegial; relating to and involving:
- shared responsibility, warmth and generosity;
- learning alongside each other through doing; and
- fostering group culture and cultures of place.
Convivial; relating to and involving:
- being friendly and lively; and
- being accessible and hospitable; and
- being thoughtful and engaged with the communities of the market.
Motivations
- Foster cultures of place.
- Advocate for public spaces that can support live experimental processes of learning.
- Position creative practice as an essential element of a market precinct.
- Present works in production as a viable alternative to art objects.
- Celebrate that particular energy from works being in production and working in public.
- Hold space for live processes, risk and experimentation.
- Timely, generatively critical, and actively engaged with context.
Timeline
- 28 June – 12 July: Applications open
- 12 July at 9pm: Applications close
- 28 July: Participants notified
- 22 August – 7 September: Six-week lab focusing on development anchored by Thursday sessions from 11am – 2pm including shared lunch, and optional opportunities for development support and conversations.
- 7 – 22 October: A public offering/test/experiment during the Public Art Park.
The Team
Testing Grounds is collaborating with Ilana Russell and Lana Nguyen to curate, program and deliver this project.