MATR 2023 - Call for Submission

Welcome to MATR 2023!

Video Pool Media Arts Centre is pleased to announce our upcoming Media Art + Technology Residency (MATR). MATR is designed to be a site-specific exploration of VP’s intimate Poolside Gallery where artists will have up to six weeks to develop and install a new work that responds to and utilizes the gallery’s characteristics. MATR specifically supports experimental, independent technology-based works and we welcome submissions that focus on a large variety of mediums, approaches, and aesthetics.

Theme for 2023

The theme for MATR this year will be (de)PRESS(i)ON, and is a part of a year-long program celebrating and exploring VP’s 40th anniversary, what we are referring to as our Mid-life Crisis™. The VP mid-life crisis™ series will feature programs from the six stages of a typical mid-life crisis: Denial, Passion; Replay, Depression, Withdrawal, and Acceptance.

For MATR, we are asking artists to “Press On” with us… to persist, continue and to advance technology-based art while delving into the past 4 decades of VP history.

As we reflect on our 40th anniversary and face our first mid-life crisis™ we’re proposing that artists conduct research into the VP archives and respond to selected works or materials through the lens of new media and technology-based art. The format of the re-creation will be up to the artist(s), and the exhibition will be tailored to respond to VP’s Poolside Gallery space. The program will include a presentation of any original work(s) selected, though no artwork from the archive will be used without permission of the artist. Artists will be granted access to VP’s archives for research purposes, much of which can be facilitated online. Artwork from the archive is not to be repurposed, but to act as inspiration for a new work.

Residency Details

VP will offer an artist fee of $3000 for the residency and subsequent exhibition in Poolside Gallery.

Artists will have full access to VP’s equipment and facilities during their residency and are encouraged to familiarize themselves with VP’s equipment, facilities, and video catalogue

VP gives priority to artists of equity-seeking groups with experimental media arts practices and works that explore technology for its aesthetics or socio-political implications.