"Nothing and nobody exists in this world whose very being does not presuppose a spectator."
-Hannah Arendt , The Life of the Mind, 1973

"We are never neither really someone else, nor really the same person."
Philippe Lejeune, On Autobiography, 1989

Open call by SomoS Art House, Berlin, for artist’s working with installation, (durational and/or participatory) performance, multimedia, sculpture, 2&3D works, text, spoken word, and other techniques that are inspired by their reflection on authenticity, subjective reality, behavioral patterns and performativity of the self.

Exhibition title:
Personae
Behavior and Authenticity

Open call/deadline April 20th 2018, 18:00h

Exhibition opening Friday, June 22, 2018, 6–9pm
Open June 23 & 24th 2018, 12-6pm

SomoS is looking for submissions for the Personae exhibition taking place at SomoS during the 48 Stunden Neukölln Festival, 2018.

Exhibition Concept description:

The tension between inner being and public persona is described by Jorge Luis Borges as a sharp divide, while in Hannah Arendt’s view, “nothing and nobody exists in this world whose very being does not presuppose a spectator.”

Arendt’s view seems fitting in a time where, for better or worse, our public behavior is constantly under close scrutiny. Enabled by rapidly changing technologies, it is measured, and influenced by outside factors. Governmental, political and commercial monitoring and psychological profiling are all pervasive. The interest in our genuine private selves behind the public persona is enormous.

At the same time, to protect ourselves, behavior and self-presentation are used as performance. Both on-and offline, we often rely on masking our identity. Ironically however, genuineness has become a fluid idea, as our masks and personae may actually portray ourselves in an ideal way.

SomoS asks participating artists to trace these dynamics and their influence on social relations, our sense of reality and community.

Techniques that can be submitted: installation, (durational and/or participatory) performance, sculpture, painting, drawing, multimedia, and other techniques that are inspired by their reflection on authenticity, subjective reality, being vs. appearing and our impulse for self-display, behavioral patterns and performativity of the self.

Submit your application here: http://www.somos-arts.org/personae-behavior-authenticity-call-for-art/