Artist Statement For Graphic Design
CALL FOR ARTISTS
Summary
No Chains, a collaborative project undertaken by the two worker cooperatives “20th of December” (La Alameda) in Argentina and “Dignity Returns” in Thailand, seeks artists, designers, and activists to assist in creating images for a global “sweat-free” brand of t-shirts to be launched in April 2010. The application deadline is 25 February 2010. Five submissions will be chosen by the joint vote of both cooperatives in early March 2010 and produced as t-shirts that will be marketed to ethical consumers and distributed among unions, NGOs, labor activists as part of an international campaign to promote non-exploitative garment production, international labor solidarity, and sustainable workers’ self-management.
Background
On 12th March 2009 a representative from La Alameda met with members of the Dignity Returns cooperative in Bangkok. After discussing the factories’ respective goals and difficulties, members decided to jointly produce and advertise sweat-free goods both to act as a model for viable worker-operated garment production and to raise awareness about non-exploitative labor. Expanding their existing media networks and activist alliances, both cooperatives would participate in a coordinated campaign about safe and ethical consumption, while addressing abuses specific to the garment industry’s global supply chain, which depends upon the exploitation of gendered, migrant, and subcontract labor in Argentina, Thailand, and throughout the global South.
Aims
The No Chains project model will hold quarterly t-shirt design contests that invite the direct collaboration of artists, designers, and art collectives with the workers of La Alameda and Dignity Returns, of which February 2010’s selection will be the first installment. The momentum generated by a joint brand consistently renewed by artists’ participation, coupled with each cooperative’s longstanding commitment to labor activism, will enable No Chains to serve as a platform that highlights various labor struggles throughout the globe, connecting artists, consumers, and supporters at these important global flashpoints. While maintaining this momentum through the projects’ stability, both La Alameda and Dignity Returns will remain open to the prospect of collaborating with other worker-owned factories that wish to join in producing under the No Chains brand.
Submission Specifications
The Design
The design must represent the general theme of “No Chains”. T-shirt designs may be produced using any visual medium, but should:
1)be suitable for silkscreen reproduction on various colors of cotton fabric.
2)use a maximum of three colors.
3)be in .jpg file format.
The Artist/Designer
1)Please include a brief artist/collective bio, along with an optional artists’ statement. It may be 50-150 words long (if in English or Spanish). The file should be in MS Word, Open Office Writer, or as an .rtf file.
2)Artists must either grant the copyright of their submitted designs to No Chains, or place their design under a Creative Commons license by which No Chains is authorized to produce shirts bearing the design.
Translation Offered If Necessary
We are happy to assist with translation of brief phrases into Spanish, English, or Thai. However, please remember that because of the broad scope of existing labor networks, from Brussels to Jakarta to Porto Alegre to Seoul, it is best to communicate through a visual graphic image rather than through words.
Submission
Please submit your design or any further queries electronically by email to art at nochains dot org by 25 February 2010.
Remember: images must be as .jpeg files, and the description of the artist must be as Word/Open Office/.rtf files.
Selection Process
Maintaining a commitment to collective principles, the full memberships of both groups will decide on the selection of the five winning images by vote, and the results will be informed to the winning artists and also announced on the No Chains website www.nochains.org in early March 2010. The t-shirts will be marketed to ethical consumers, supportive labor unions, and NGOs. In addition, some NGOs will sponsor the donation of some shirts to members of selected workers’ struggles as they arise.
Because both collectives operate autonomously without access to external funding, No Chains is unfortunately unable to provide financial compensation for artists’ contributions that are adopted for use in the global “sweat-free” brand. However, artists whose work is selected will receive five shirts bearing their winning designs.
No Chains: www.nochains.org
Dignity Returns: www.dignityreturns.com
Mundo Alameda: www.mundoalameda.com.ar
Here it is:
My work can be seen viewed a collection of interdisciplinary inspirations and processes. Some may call me a jack-of-all-trades. Over time, my pieces have undergone several phases starting with a more computational bent to purely narrative, then graphic design, and now a culmination of all these aspects in game design projects. My academic background was in Writing Seminars (creative writing) at the Johns Hopkins University so my focus on games has revolved heavily on narrative, literary/literacy, and educational aspects of gameplay and interaction. Of course, a healthy dose of programming and graphic design is always present as well.
Some projects that I have worked on include heading up a creative team to produce advertising assets for the U.S. Navy to promote medical scholarships and opportunities on campus. The advertising campaign went on to win several national collegiate awards. At the same time, I specialized in writing flash fictions believing that the shorter and more impactful genre was the key to successfully engage an audience that is now constantly bombarded with media noise.
Now, I am aiming to combine these past ideas with games. While in the MFA Design & Technology program at Parsons the New School for Design, I have been using games as a way to integrate my interdisciplinary skills to produce educational and interactive media. For example, I created a digital choose your own adventure that is played on mobile devices like the iPhone. Due to its digital nature, the decision architecture is far more diverse than that of traditional CYOA. I am also helping a 2nd year student with his alternative reality game, a medium that advertising firms have been experimenting in recent years. Finally, I am working on projects for Google’s Android OS for mobile phones in anticipation to produce a digital-media-centric educational platform for a MacArthur that is partnered with several NYC institutions.
