Call for artists' residencies: graphics
Since 2009, the University of Montpellier has been hosting an artist or artistic team in residence at its laboratories and teaching units. Since 2013, these residencies have been co-financed by the DRAC and are now part of the agreement between the UM and the DRAC Languedoc-Roussillon-Midi-Pyrénées.
Initially, the artists developed Art / Science projects and explored the relationship between artistic creation and scientific disciplines.
The year 2014/2015 marked an evolution in the UM residences. The Microclimax collective was welcomed in the particular context of the merger between the Universities of Montpellier 1 and Montpellier 2, effective on January 1, 2015. The work of exploration and artistic production was therefore envisaged as much in relation to the living environment and echoing the University's policy as to the research and teaching provided. The University's new perimeter has enabled it to broaden its scope to include "non-scientific" components. Choreographer Leonardo Montecchia, in residence this year, took up the theme of (useless) gesture at the University, benefiting from this new richness.
The 2016/2017 residency calls for reflection on the theme of "graphics". Once again, the aim is to foster points of contact and crossover between the fields of art and the disciplines taught at the University of Montpellier. The artist will work in conjunction with teachers, lecturers and students from the Faculty of Science (in particular the Mathematics and Computer Science departments), ISEM, the Faculty of Economics, the Faculty of Education of Montpellier...
The University of Montpellier
Created by the merger of the Universities of Montpellier 1 and Montpellier 2 in January 2015, the University of Montpellier is currently the largest university in Languedoc-Roussillon and the 6th largest in France.
It brings together 45,000 students in 17 educational components, including :
- 9 faculties: Economic and Social Administration (AES), Law and Political Science, Economics, Education, Medicine, Odontology, Pharmacy, Sciences (biology and ecology, evolution and environment, chemistry, earth and water, mathematics and computer science, etc.), Sciences and Techniques of Physical and Sports Activities (STAPS).
- 6 institutes: Administration des Entreprises (IAE), Préparation à l'Administration Générale (IPAG), Sciences de l'Entreprise et du Management (ISEM), IUT de Béziers, IUT de Montpellier-Sète, IUT de Nîmes
- 2 schools: Observatoire de Research Méditerranéen de l'Environnement (OREME), Polytech' Montpellier.
In addition to education, the University of Montpellier also has 76 research structures grouped around 9 scientific themes. More than 4,500 teaching, research and administrative staff work here.
The UM manages and promotes major collections: botanical, paleontological, zoological, mineralogical, anatomical and documentary.
Art & culture department
The Art & Culture Department is part of the UM Campus Life Division. Its mission is to propose actions that encourage and promote the opening up of students and staff to the world of culture and to different modes of artistic expression.
The department's activities focus on a number of areas: practical art workshops, programming of cultural events on campus, mediation initiatives with local cultural organizations, and support for cultural initiatives undertaken by various university players (students, lecturers, cultural associations, components, research laboratories). Hosting artists in residence is one of the highlights of the department's cultural and artistic activities.
Artistic fields: visual arts - drawing
Theme : Graphics
The term graphic is polysemous. As an adjective, it refers to drawing techniques, but also to the representation of language by signs. As a noun, it refers to figures representing the evolution of a phenomenon, to techniques for representing information using drawings and diagrams, to tracings produced by a recording device.
From graphic maps in computer science, through graphs describing economic conditions, to graph theory in mathematics, many academic disciplines make direct reference to this term. Teachers, lecturers, students and administrative staff all use graphs, in lectures, Powerpoint presentations, posters and reports. Their pedagogical virtues are widely exploited in all forms of transmission, and to paraphrase Napoleon 1st: a good graphic is worth more than a long speech!
The artist-in-residence will need to articulate his or her artistic research with the wealth of activities and semantic palette evoked by the terms "graph" and "graphic" at our school.
His or her proposal should play on our mental representations, offering an offbeat take on the disciplines involving graphics and graphic design.
Pencil, pen, felt-tip, engraving, digital drawing - all techniques are conceivable.
Particular attention will be paid to the form of the output, to ensure that it reaches student audiences in particular (publication, projection, exhibition, performance, installation, etc.).
The artist is immersed in the disciplines and immersed in exchanges with students, teachers, lecturers and administrative and technical staff.
The artist capitalizes on knowledge that will feed into the artistic production phase.
1st stage: exploration and research // autumn 2016 (between September and December - depending on the university calendar) :
- contact with partners, students and immersion in teaching to design an artistic work ;
- exploration of research areas ;
- immersion in the issues at work and the spaces in which artistic work is conceived.
2nd stage: creation // spring 2017 (between February and April) :
- design and production of the work ;
- restitution of work ;
- meetings and mediation activities aimed at the university community and the population of Montpellier;
- leading an artistic practice workshop on the artist's approach, or even his or her specific project for the University.
A suitable work space will be provided according to project requirements.
Financial terms and conditions
An overall budget of 8,000 euros* has been earmarked to pay for the research, creation and mediation work, the supervision of a 20-hour workshop, and to cover the artist's travel and accommodation expenses.
*This amount is subject to the granting of funds by the various partners.
Recruitment procedure
Applications to be submitted by July 4, 2016.
To be sent by e-mail in PDF format or by post :
Attention: Éléonore Szturemski / Marta Cases Bobadilla
E-mail
University of Montpellier
Service art & culture
Attn: Éléonore Szturemski / Marta Cases Bobadilla
Place Eugène Bataillon, cc 438
34095 Montpellier cedex 5
Please enclose with your application :
- a curriculum vitae ;
- visuals of the work ;
- a note on the artistic approach ;
- a note of intent explaining how the residency project intersects with issues linked to your practice, and possibly a pre-project.
Applications will be examined on July 13, 2016 by a selection committee made up of members of the art & culture department, players in the cultural life of the University of Montpellier and representatives of the DRAC Languedoc-Roussillon-Midi-Pyrénées. Applicants will be informed as soon as the committee has made its decision.