OPEN CALL RE-WIRED

This is an OPEN CALL for individuals and groups who feel unheard, misunderstood, marginalized and in-visible. It is an invitation to GATHER and COLLABORATE on art installations that amplify your voices and real-life experiences. Whether queer, indigenous, immigrant, refugee, senior citizen or a person with a disability, all of us are connected by our shared humanity. This truth is too often mired by conflict, inequality, greed, misunderstanding and a lack of empathy. The role of CRAFT & MAKING—to facilitate communication and HUMANIZE THE OTHER—is at the heart of THE RE-WIRED PROJECT, an ART INSTALLATION that will be displayed in a gallery exhibition at FACILITY, http://facilitychicago.org, from September–November 2022.

THE RE-WIRED PROJECT is inspired in part by the moving and powerful expressions of solidarity that emerged as chalky sidewalk slogans and impassioned murals throughout the City in the wake of George Floyd’s mur-der. The walls, sidewalks, front yards and windows of Chicago’s diverse neighborhoods have long served as a canvas, reflecting individual and community values. These very public yet personal affirmations, including sentiments like ‘I am beautiful,’ ‘Black Lives Matter’ and ‘Hate Has No Home Here,’ bring awareness to social justice issues that have long impacted our city’s (and nation’s) complicated relationship with its history. It is also an expression of hopes and dreams. From The Great Migration of African Americans from the south, to refugees fleeing conflict in Syria, Afghanistan and elsewhere, Chicago continues to serve as a city of hope and refuge; a reality filled with contradictions and opportunities for self-reflection.

Liberty
United
Blessings
Justice
Prosperity
Privilege
Preference
Regulation
Consequence
Migration
|mportation
We
People

TO PARTICIPATE This is an OPEN CALL to PARTNER WITH ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS in making an art installa-tion using thread, yarns and wire to re-create (and create) ideas and aspirations with the words that have emerged on the streetscapes of our communities. WHY WIRE? Because it has long served as a conductive antenna, broadcasting messages beyond barriers and borders. The notion of RE-WIRING also suggests over-hauling an antiquated system. In addition to creating words with wire, volunteer participants are invited to collaborate on tree-like compositions that reflect the deep roots and networks we create through community.

All participating artists, individual volunteers and organizations will be CREDITED as part of this collective effort. From September–November 2022, when this project is installed, the exhibit will be visible from the street, and open to the public on select dates. There will be workshops, performances, publications, social media and artist talks to engage visitors during the project’s development and/or when it’s completed. If you or your organization are interested in participating in any of these opportunities (or in a different way) I would be eager to discuss your ideas.

I LOOK FORWARD TO COLLABORATING WITH YOU. Please CONTACT me at: [email protected]

Anke Loh
www.ankeloh.net

ANKE LOH | BIO Anke Loh has been a full-time professor in the Department of Fashion at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago since 2005, and served as its chair for seven years. With a background in fashion design, her artistic practice focuses on textile development and wearable technology. Compelled by the social impact of craft and technology on communities, her work explores the relationship between the body and its environment. Anke’s designs and installations have been featured at international runway shows and exhibitions includ-ing New York Fashion Week, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, Japan’s Osaka Collection Show and Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry. Her most recent work focuses on the development of touch- and motion-sensitive textiles that serve as alternative modes of communication. In an evolving and fragmented world, she uses wearable technology to address feelings of isolation brought on by long-simmering social and economic inequities that surfaced during the COVID-19 pandemic.