U.S. Consulate General Alexandria, in collaboration with ZERO1 and El Horreya Creativity Center of Art at Alexandria, announces an open call for participants in the American Arts Incubator program.
El Horreya Creativity Center of Art at Alexandria will host the program from November 28 to December 21. Visiting American Artist Gene Felice will teach evening workshops that combine art and technology skills and facilitate community projects that address the challenge of shoreline health in Alexandria. The project will include a series of intensive workshops, the development of , and an exhibition opening on December 19, 2018.
Gene Felice is an assistant professor in Digital Art within the department of Art & Art History at the University of North Carolina Wilmington where he is developing the Coaction Lab (www.coactionlab.org) for interdisciplinary collaboration.
Gene bridges his creative practice across art, science, education and design, developing a sustainable network of innovation, living systems, and emerging technologies. His hybrid practice grows at the intersection of nature and technology, developing coactive systems as arts science research. His interactive work uses input sources from bio and eco sensors, cameras, touch screens and online data sources, feeding output from motors, LED’s, video projectors, speakers and more. Video and animated imagery displayed via projection mapping, transform two dimensional surfaces and architectural structures into three-dimensional storytelling systems. Throughout his production process, emerging technologies such as 3D printing, laser cutting & CNC milling hybridize with older methods such as wood fabrication, lost wax bronze casting, ceramics, glass casting and more. While keeping site specific histories in mind, he achieves confluence by merging these varied passions into a system of creative collaboration. His work has been featured at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, Sussex University in the UK, and the International Symposium of Electronic Art in Hong Kong.
“From  the perspective of an interdisciplinary artist and educator, the social and ecological challenges of Alexandria are both inspiring and complex. I find inspiration and focus within the scale of time and knowledge that exists in Alexandria and I look forward to working with the community to help tell their stories through innovative uses of technology and by collaborating on a range of Art and Science inspired projects.” – Gene Felice |
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Project elements:
- Workshops: November 30 and December 1, 6, and 7, 2018
Gene Felice will address coastal shoreline health in Alexandria by exploring the scientific, cultural, and historical relationships between the land, its people, the Nile Delta, and the Mediterranean Sea. His workshops will cultivate social inclusion, ecological sustainability, and do-it-yourself art- and science-based collaboration using open source data visualization and digital storytelling hardware and software. The goal of this project is to inspire creative visions of a sustainable and innovative future for Alexandria that maintains a balance between humanity’s needs and those of the ecosystems that sustain us. - Project Development: December 8 – 18, 2018
After the workshop, the participants will be divided into groups. Each group will work on their project and learn at all the stages of works: from document collection, to prototyping, to the public presentation of the results of the work. - Panel and Exhibition Opening: December 19, 2018
Each group will present their work during the panel. All the works will be presented at El Horreya Creativity Center of Art at Alexandria.
To participate in the American Arts Incubator project you must:
- Attend all workshops:
Friday, 11/30: 2 PM – 6 PM
Saturday, 12/1: 5 PM – 9 PM
Thursday, 12/6: 5 PM – 9 PM
Friday, 12/7: 2 PM – 6 PM - Coordinate meetings with your group during project development, and attend the panel/exhibition opening
- Have an interest in technology, new media, and/or digital art. Experience in the arts is a plus.
- An interest in addressing environmental health in your community.
- A desire to learn from new perspectives and new tools.
- A willingness to work and create in a collaborative environment.
- Age 18+; Youth, women, and people with disabilities encouraged to apply
To apply, please fill in an online English application form or Arabic application form. Submissions will be accepted until November 3, 2018.
For more information, please contact the U.S. Consulate General Public Affairs Section at AlexPA@state.gov.
