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We will reopen Friday 16 October, 5pm for the preview of Form and Display!
We are launching two micro-commissions for artists who are interested in engaging with and responding to our upcoming exhibition Everyday Algorithms.
The open call is designed to support local artists who experience barriers to developing their creative practices and/or taking part in our programmes.
It is an opportunity to make new work or produce a response to the themes, ideas and practices in the exhibition; broadening narratives around algorithmic cultures.
We are open to a diverse range of outcomes, forms, and approaches. You might want to write a text, make a new artwork, try developing something in code… it’s up to you! No specific technical skills or training are required. We are open to collaborative and participatory approaches to developing artistic responses, but this is not required.
We encourage the selected applicants to engage with our existing creative coding community through the regular Creative Code Club events, which are aimed at skill sharing and community development.
Follow the simple application process to apply for this opportunity by 10 December 2024.
The Everyday Algorithms Micro Commissions are part of Practice Makes Practice and are funded by the North East Combined Authority and supported by the Newcastle Cultural Investment Fund.
Everyday Algorithms is an exhibition taking place at The NewBridge Project from 22 February to 19 April 2025, exploring our interactions with algorithms in our everyday lives.
The exhibition brings together artists and communities to consider the active role of humans within the design of algorithmic and data structures, foregrounding perspectives around algorithms as cultural and changeable.
Everyday Algorithms emphasises under recognised narratives on algorithmic cultures, showcasing work and practices that are using algorithms in a regenerative way, responding to human-centred needs such as for care, community, safety and autonomy. Although work critiquing the extractive and destructive practices of Big Tech corporations is important, we are primarily exploring the topic from a place of positive activism. We are interested in perspectives that consider where we can resist mono-cultures, and take agency around the way we design and interact with algorithms in our everyday lives.
Everyday Algorithms will include public events such as workshops, communal and collaborative coding activities, and we are exploring ways for the exhibition to evolve over time in response to these events. The project is led by artist Shelly Knotts with the NewBridge Programme Committee: Holly Argent, Ellie Armon Azoulay, Dan Goodman, Kaan K, Shelly Knotts, and Seymour Mace.
The deadline for applications is Tuesday 10 December, 10am.
To apply you need to submit a PDF (or a 3 minute video/ audio recording) via email to applications@thenewbridgeproject.com.
Please add the title ‘YOUR NAME_MicroCommission’ in the PDF and email subject line.
Whether written, recorded or filmed, please respond to the simple guidance below.
How does the selection process work?
All applications will be reviewed by members of the programme committee and The NewBridge Project staff against the criteria.
We will then contact successful applicants. At any of these stages we may contact applicants to ask for clarifications or further information.
Application questions
Please provide a short proposal, including why you would like to respond to Everyday
Algorithms and how you would approach the micro-commision. This should be 500 words max. We don’t require a fixed idea about the outcome as we would like you to engage with the exhibition, events and community, but would like to hear about how you would approach the project and what you could bring to the space.
If you have examples, include a link to your website or an example of a project/ artwork.
What is the Selection Criteria?
We will select two artists.
Priority will be given to artists who have not received a bursary or paid commission by NewBridge before.
Priority will be given to artists that identify barriers to otherwise engaging with the project Everyday Algorithms.
Proposals will be selected on the basis of bringing new ideas or perspectives to the topic and/or bringing new approaches to how algorithms are understood within people’s everyday lives.
Fee
Each successful applicant will be awarded a bursary of £1000 to participate in the programme and develop a response to the exhibition.
Alongside the application form, we ask applicants to complete our Equal Opportunities and Diversity Monitoring Form, which helps us monitor the diversity of our organisation and our work. Your responses will be treated with full confidentiality. If there are any questions you would rather not answer, please just tick ‘prefer not to say’ or skip to the next question.
Information session: Tuesday 3 December 2024, 2 – 4pm
Application Deadline: 10 December 2024, 10am
Outcome notifications: 18 December 2024
Everyday Algorithms Exhibition: 22 February – 19 April 2025
Micro-commission presentations (showing to the public at an event or screening): Saturday 12 April 2025
Coding: coding is the act of writing instructions that tell a computer what to do.
Algorithm: a process or set of instructions, such as a recipe or set of driving instructions. Commonly, algorithms are written to tell a computer how to complete a task.
Algorithmic culture: social trends related to the use of, and interaction with, algorithms, for example the use of computer coding in art production.
Big Tech: a set of large multinational companies in the technology sector, including for example, Google and Apple.
Big Data: very large datasets often collected by big tech companies to understand human behaviour. Big data is used by lots of Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms.
Algorithmic monocultures: the impact of the culture of technology sectors being dominated by the perspectives of western white men, and recognising how this might affect the experiences of other demographics interacting with algorithmic structures.
Underrecognised narratives on algorithmic cultures: theoretical and practical forms of knowledge that resist technology monocultures. For example may include, but not exclusive to: open source software communities, live coding, techno-feminism, ethno programming, decolonial computing, etc.
Positive activism: understanding what positive action can be taken to resist monocultures and improve technology cultures.
The successful applicants will be expected to engage with the Everyday Algorithms exhibition and events, which will take place at The NewBridge Project.
In addition we expect participants to spend additional time outside the workshop sessions, with the opportunity for one-to-one mentoring with The NewBridge Project staff and to present their work at a public event towards the end of the exhibition programme.
Overall, we will look for a time commitment equivalent to at least four days’ work spread over the eight weeks of the exhibition programme, but you are of course free to invest more of your time.
We anticipate applicants will have really varied levels of experience, there’s no need to have any specific experience with algorithms, coding or making art. We’re looking for strong engagement with the programme and an interest in critically reflecting on the roles of algorithms in our everyday lives. The event programme will support you in taking it further/integrating with your existing artistic practice.
Following the selection process the successful applicants will have an initial meeting to get acquainted with the exhibition aims and the committee. This will take place online during January.
Everyday Algorithms will be presented in NewBridge’s gallery from 22 February – 19 April 2025.
We ask that each participant attend the public events and final presentation in person, where possible.
It will be helpful to have a laptop or computer to engage with the public programme and further explore your ideas in your own time.
Yes we can provide a laptop. This can only be used on-site at NewBridge at agreed times.
Applications close 10.00 on 10 December 2024. Unfortunately due to tight schedules we are unable to accept late submissions.
Two applicants will be chosen.
These micro-commissions are supported by North East Combined Authority and must benefit people living in the North of Tyne area (Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside, Northumberland). Therefore to apply you will either: live in the North of Tyne area or connect with residents of North of Tyne through sharing your micro-commission at the public event on 12 April 2025.
We ask that you are able to attend each workshop in person and present at the showcase event in person. Please let us know if you have any access needs to facilitate this.
Collectives are welcome to apply but there will be no additional funding to cover this.
This programme is for people aged 18 and above. There is no upper age limit.
Yes. Students at any stage of their education can apply, as long as they are aged 18 and above.
We are interested in engaging with broad perspectives on algorithmic culture and resisting dominant mono-cultures in the technology sector. An important way to understand algorithmic cultures is to engage with those who have lived experience of barriers to engaging with creative and cultural coding.
Although this project responds to the lack of diverse groups in the local and broader creative coding scene we don’t necessarily intend to ‘solve’ that problem. Instead we want to provide artists with the time and resources to explore coding and algorithmic art/culture, and take it in whatever directions they want to. In the process we can learn about what barriers and opportunities there are for people underrepresented in the arts and technology more broadly.
We recognise that many people face barriers to developing an arts practice and accessing tech resources and skills.
It is well documented that people from a lower socio-economic backgrounds ie: a working class or low-income background,from the global majority, who have not been to university or are the first generation in their family to attend university, who are disabled or carers are still vastly underrepresented in the arts and in computing.
We appreciate that a range of life experiences can be considered barriers too and ask applicants to self-describe the barriers they have faced.
Each recipient is supported by a £1000 fee which covers participation in ‘Everyday Algorithms’ public events and a final showcase event. This bursary is expected to cover travel and any other associated costs.
Participants will be paid in two equal instalments, at the beginning of the programme and towards the end of the programme.
Make sure you address the criteria in your proposal and don’t feel like you need to be restrained to just these prompts – please do give more information where appropriate.
Detail is important for us: this might take the form of you having an idea in mind where you can name an outcome you’d like to pursue; you could describe an enquiry or question you’d like to explore; or an area of interest that you’d like to use this opportunity to learn more about, research further and so on.
It’s alright not to know everything, if you give us starting points and are keen to learn with others or learn through public activity.
Great! Whatever suits you. You might like to use voice-notes or film yourself using something like Zoom. You might have other more sophisticated methods – all are good with us. We recommend making some notes so you hit the main points outlined in the ‘How to Apply’ and ‘Criteria’ section, and you might like to have a practice run. (Record the practice run in case you nail it first time!)
The NewBridge Project is a charity, registered charity no. 1173849.
We are grateful to our funders, including Arts Council England, Newcastle City Council, Garfield Weston Foundation, Jerwood Foundation, Community Foundation North East, Newcastle University and the The North East Mayoral Strategic Authority.
We are proud to be a Gallery of Sanctuary.
