Call for Artists & Designers
Clean Air Living Map (CALM) – Paid Commission Opportunity
We are inviting artists, designers and collectives to participate in Clean Air Living Map (CALM) , a York University/OCAD University-based research-creation project exploring air pollution through art, technology, and citizen science.This project brings together art, design, science, and engineering to make invisible air pollution visible through portable sensing technologies and public-facing artworks.
Who Should Apply?
The call is open to artists, designers, and collectives working across a wide range of creative practices and at any career stage. Applicants should:
· Be comfortable working with technology and interested in translating air-quality data into creative work.
· Be curious and passionate about air quality and climate justice.
· Be ready to lead a team of citizen scientists from the general public to collect air quality data through crowdsourcing, art, and design.
We welcome a wide variety of creative approaches, project types, and forms of artistic and design practice.
Selection Process
Selected artists, designers, and collectives will:
• Take part in a short interview and onboarding process.
• Receive training in the CALM sensing platform.
• Develop an original artwork, object, wearable, installation, or design project incorporating environmental sensing.
• Contribute to a project that connects creative practice with real-world environmental data.
• Work with citizen scientists to deploy their completed project.
Four projects will be selected through a short interview process based on the applicants’ artistic or design practice, openness to collaboration in an interdisciplinary setting, and interest in environmental issues, technology, and research-creation.
What We Provide
CALM will provide the environmental sensing technology, technical expertise, and training needed to work with the CALM platform.
Selected artists, designers, and collectives will receive a $1,000 CAD professional creative fee per selected project, plus up to $1,000 CAD for approved materials, fabrication, and production costs, including costs associated with reproducing the work for use by citizen scientists.
Using your art or design practice, you will customise, enhance, or otherwise integrate the CALM air-quality sensing platform into an original creative work.
The resulting work will be reproduced and/or deployed, where appropriate, with up to 10 volunteer citizen scientists per selected project to crowdsource air-quality data. Selected artists, designers, and collectives will lead their team of citizen scientists during this deployment, with support from the CALM research team.
Completed works will also be presented through a CALM exhibition, public events, and project documentation and dissemination activities.
Copyright & Documentation
Artists, designers, and collectives retain copyright in their creative work. As part of the commission, selected creatives agree to allow CALM and York University to document and share the work through project-related exhibitions, publications, presentations, websites, social media, educational materials, and other research and knowledge-mobilization activities.
The project includes photography, audio and/or video documentation of the creative process, completed works, exhibitions, and public activities. Artists, designers, and collectives will be credited wherever reasonably practicable.
How to Apply
Please send:
• A short statement of interest (max 500 words;
• supporting media welcome).
• Resume or CV.Portfolio or examples of your work.
• Your contact information
to: : info@cleanairlivingmap.ca
DEADLINE: August 28th
For more information about the Clean Air Living Map (CALM), please visit: https://cleanairlivingmap.ca