Call 2011 : Changes

Stories are about changes. How a person got from A to B is how they changed from state A to state B. Occasionally it will be political, how a leader rose or fell, and similar news, but in stories, in novels, and art- we ask- what is the real story? How does that affect me? or individuals within the collective whole? If we are global villagers now, as Marshall McLuhan predicted, then our experience is as humble and unique as any villager anywhere. Nature brought many of the changes this year. Earthquakes, eruptions, tsunamis, and storms. Global warming brings changes of climate that were once the realm of science fiction. The exhibition "Changes" was partially inspired by Wikileaks, and the Arab Spring. That was only the jumping off point. Politics was only a small part of what we are looking for. Changes can mean many, many things, and we hoped that artists would find unusual ways of depicting change, in any and every way. If an artist has a question about the appropriateness of an idea, by all means send it to us. It does not mean approval, but we would discuss relevance and suggest alternatives.
Frank Shifreen, New York. 
The last 12 months have been revealed a powerful movement of freedom and transparency that has emerged via the internet. It influenced people throughout the world, especially in the middle east to challenge tradition and custom in ways not before seen on this scale. Authoritarian governments tightly controlled information and news for decades without serious challenge. The first chinks in their armor was initiated through social media sites. Social networking sites, smart phones, flash mobs are the core engines that have powered these mass movements throughout the world.They became tools for social action.

Wikileaks published American cables that candidly revealed secrets about International governments, including the Ben Ali family that ruled Tunisia for 30 years. These cables, exposing the greed of the Ben Ali family were publicized, Tunisians were outraged. The greed of ruling families throughout the Mideast is legendary, but independent verification was the straw that broke the camels back, so to speak. Two autocratic governments have already fallen and several more seem to be at their end.

Economic pressures effected world economies. The fury of people who have been denied opportunity and freedom in this difficult climate was magnified by social networking sites that allowed them to communicate their dissatisfaction and plan protests, to get the word out.

CultureInside is a social networking site for artists. We hope that the same social currency that allowed people to use facebook to politically organize will allow visual artists, a small but important subculture, to organize for mutual support and the creation of an international community that can bypass traditional art world elitism and structures.

Art is a litmus test for freedom in modern society. If images can be openly created and shared, then the complex ideas behind them often not even consciously known, are a part of the zeitgeist.

We from CultureInside want to create an exhibition called Changes, that celebrated this time of change.

What can artists bring to the table. What perceptions underly this transformation. The People of Egypt and Tunisia are celebrating.

Wikileaks is in disarray and Julian Assange, It's founder is facing charges, the private who leaked the cables is facing life in prison and is held in solitary in a military brig. The drama of this story and its implications would be strange for fiction if it were not true and being played out in current events. Text by Frank Shifreen, NYC
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