If you took an art history course any time before the year 2005 you probably know a lot about

2 x 2 slides. They were the primary means through which art history was taught. All of that has changed now, of course. PowerPoint has relegated analog slide lectures to the scrap heap of history. As a result, universities and art historians have found themselves holding collections of literally thousands of old slides; all carefully labeled, arranged, and catalogued. These collections have become obsolete for the purposes for which they were made. They are sadly unemployed.

To remedy the situation, we seek your help in giving these slides a second life – as raw material and conceptual inspiration for creative works.

Interested artists will be mailed 36, randomly selected, 2 x 2 slides from a 10,000 slide collection covering the entire history of Western art. Responsive artworks will then be juried by a small panel of museum, gallery, and educational program directors into ‘The Slide Show’ exhibition at Glass Wheel Studio in Norfolk, VA on view January 21-February 26, 2017.

*Cash prizes will also be awarded.*

Artists will be selected on the basis of originality, understanding of the particular nature and history of the 2 x 2 slide, and on technical feasibility. The call is open to artists working in all media. Artists working in glass are particularly encouraged to apply. Please see the guidelines below regarding size, shipping, sales and submission timelines. Please note that international shipping is not an option for this open call.
•Artists can submit up to three (3) completed artworks for individual consideration
•Significantly-conceived proposals for site-specific installations will also be considered
•All works must be new, original works that respond to the 36 slides provided.
•Artwork logistics/size restrictions:
◦Maximum object height 8 feet
◦Large scale works/installations and works with video projection, neon, or other electrical requirements must be clearly outlined with submission materials.
◦When crated work cannot exceed 82” (h) x 70”(w) (Modularly-packed larger works are allowed)
◦Artists with complex installation requirements may be asked to assist with install
•Artists are responsible for roundtrip crating/shipping costs
•Artist must certify that the work is in such condition to withstand ordinary strains of packing and transportation and handling.
•Artwork will be returned packed in the same or similar materials as received.
•Artworks will be insured by Glass Wheel Studio while on view.
•Artwork must be available for exclusive sale by GWS during run of the exhibition.
•Commission split: 50% to Artist; 50% to GWS.
•Selected artists must provide high-resolution images for general PR use.
•International shipping is not an option.

Timeline:
•August 5: Open Call begins
•September 5: Open Call closes
•September 15: All slides mailed to artists (Mailings will occur as requests are submitted)
•October 31: Final art submissions due via Submittable.com
•November 30: Artists notified of acceptance/rejection
•December 1-23: Loan agreements signed, logistics and shipping schedules set
•January 8-14: Artwork delivery/shipments accepted at GWS
•January 14-19: Installation
•January 20/21: Exhibition opens
•Feb 26: Exhibition closes
•Feb 26-March 1: Artwork pick-up/ return shipping

Here are a few thoughts about slides to get your wheels turning…

•Art history lectures were linear. Slides were used to unfold a standard accepted narrative of how the visual arts evolved over the centuries. Is it time to revisit the standard art historical narrative? Might these same slides be re-sequenced to tell an alternative story? Could this same set of images be used not to present an art historical narrative, but to tell a personal story or offer social or political commentary?
•Scale. Everything is the same size on a slide: a Jackson Pollock mural and a page from the Books of Kells.
•Slide are images, but they are also discrete physical objects. Their binding, masking, labeling, source (taken on site by self, from book, or from school collection), color (or black and white) all tell a story.
•Images on slide are usually representational, but they are also abstract groupings of shapes and colors. Might this provide an opportunity to use slides in a purely formal way?
•Slides were designed to be projected on a screen in a particular sequence. In most cases two slides were used side-by-side to allow comparisons. Such side by side comparisons suggest that the world is a strictly binary/symmetrical place – left/right, boy/girl, on/off. Are there other ways to use and present slide images? In time? In space?
•The composition of any slide library inevitably reflects cultural and historical ideas and constructs popular during the era in which the library was assembled. Could a selection of slides from a library be used as a way of exploring subsequent changes in our cultural point of view?
•One celebrated scholar noted “Art History is a game and whoever has the most slides wins.” For many, slides became icons – holy images that were the focus of veneration and worship. It became easy to mistake slides for the works of art they illustrated.
•Art history professors devoted huge amounts of time to arranging and sequencing the slides in their lectures. Could the process of selection and arrangement be redesigned as an interactive game?
•Slides reflect a specific moment in the history of photography/image-making. They were the first medium through which images could be shared with a large audience. How is the experience of the digital image different (grain vs. pixels)? How is a PowerPoint ‘slide’ show different from a traditional slide show?