evoluzionäre zellen competition

[anna balint]

evolutionäre zellen 
A competition endowed with 15,000 Euro in prize money
and organized by the NGBK/Arbeitsgruppe finger
organizer Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst e.V.
Oranienstraße 25
D-10999 Berlin
Tel. +49 (0) 30  6153031
Fax +49 (0) 30  6152290
e-mail: ngbk at ngbk.de
url: www.ngbk.de



How do you design your society?
Most people take the everyday reality of their society for granted, 
without much thought to their capacity to creatively shape it. Nevertheless, 
it is in an everyday context that society-shaping innovations are 
usually conceived, in the form of societal »models«, »islands«or 
»evolutionäre zellen«(evolutionary cells).
New approaches to shaping social conditions often emerge under the 
pressure of current social conditions, or out of a desire to express 
individual needs, wants and convictions. Everyday economic, political 
and family contexts and conventions, communication forms and work 
structures become too narrowly defined or prove to be poorly suited 
to solving actual problems or living up to ideas.
The desire to change the societal state of being with new ideas is often met 
with initial resistance, leading to the question as to which 
form an idea should assume in order to be convincing to others while 
still satisfying one's own expectations. Accordingly, new ideas, innovations 
and social alternatives are first developed and tested in smaller 
contexts. Regardless of the realisation potential of the individual 
ideas, the goal of this competition is to create a forum for the development 
of »evolutionäre zellen«on the borderline between social acceptance 
and rejection, and so to contribute to the representation and mediation 
of such »evolutionäre zellen«as a relevant factor in cultural production 
and processes.

The competition is looking for:
· »evolutionäre zellen«, which underline the importance 
of daily awareness and the assumption of responsibility.
· »evolutionäre zellen«, which address societal 
grievances and offer new approaches through constructive, innovative 
rethinking and abstraction of given conditions.
· »evolutionäre zellen«, which do not exemplify 
any given theory, but rather present exemplary cases of societal reality. 
           
Who can take part in the competition?
The competition is open to persons from all fields and professions, 
amateurs or professionals, who are actively contributing to the shape 
of their social environment. We are looking for autodidactic methods 
and »professional dilettantes«: people taking an individual 
and creative approach to developing new or alternative social structures 
in order to express their needs and convey their reflections, and 
so to further encourage innovative and critical thinking.

The Jury
The jury is made up of individuals and representatives of groups whose 
ideas and methods have set examples for the self-initiated reshaping 
of social perspectives.

Formal requirements for submission of entries · Submissions should include a written abstract of the creative concept in 
max. 2 pages DIN A4, in either German or English.
· In addition, photographs, objects or other documentary materials which aid the illustration of the concept may be 
submitted. VHS tapes (max. 15 minutes) and CD-ROMs (must be Mac and PC compatible) 
will be accepted.
· The entry form must be completed and signed.
· In case of a group entry, we request that a responsible 
contact person be named and a complete contact address be supplied. 
        
· The submitted materials will be laid out on tables for viewing by the jury. Each entry will be allotted a space of max. 1 m2 
(please take this into consideration when selecting documentation material). 
        
· All documentation material must bear the complete name and address of the entrant.
· Should the return of materials submitted be desired, return postage must be included and packaging must be reusable.

Entry forms The entry forms are available 
either as a download in pdf-format at the web site www.evolutionaere-zellen.org, 
or by sending a stamped, self-addressed envelope to: 
           
Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst e.V.
evolutionäre zellen
Oranienstraþe 25
D-10999 Berlin.
        

The deadline for entries is: August 31, 2002 (date of postal stamp). 
            Regardless of the date of the postal stamp, the jury will only consider 
            those works which have been received by September 6, 2002.

Publicity rights The NGBK/Arbeitsgruppe finger retain the rights of exhibition and public display in the context of the 
competition.
A catalog of the exhibition will be published. Submitted concepts and pieces of work may be used for the competition and 
for the purpose of generating publicity for the competition. The competition organizers 
have the right to publish the selected pieces of work in radio and 
television, as well as in catalogues, newspapers, magazines, internet 
and other publications in the context of publicity for the competition.

Distribution of prizes The distribution of the prize money, totalling 15,000 Euro, will 
be determined by the jury. The decisions of the jury are binding, any legal recourse being excluded. All submitted 
entries which are in accordance with the conditions of entry and have been accepted 
to the competition will be presented in an exhibition curated by the Arbeitsgruppe finger in the NGBK in Berlin, from 
November 11 -  December1, 2002.