In the need to address the concept of "heterotopias", under the today's terms within the modern societies, the Public Screen project attempts to redefine the relationship between contemporary art and the public-urban space.

Contemporary art presupposes particular codes of communication and access. Does it constitute an heterotopia which is limited in the restricted space of museums and galleries? Is it possible for a creative dialogue between the work of art that is presented in a public screen and the resident/visitor/drifter of the modern metropolitan area to be produced? How the terms of such an encounter as when the work of art has lost its primary physical form and it exists as a representation, appearance, meaning, or reminder, can be modified?

In the modern universal market, the production and the distribution of the work of art has definitely been modified, nevertheless it hasn't stopped to compose a determined process of an economic nature in which the creators and the consumers have a differentiated possibility of access. The entrance of the work of art into the public space redefines the terms of the assembly among the artist, the work of art and the public view. In an era in which the image is one of the principal means of communication and transmission of messages, the Public Screen project provides the artists from all around the world the chance to present their work to a wide range of social groups, in addition to the limited number of the museums' visitors.

The Public Screen program is originated from and wraps up in a specific space - in Thessaloniki - which is part of an international organization -of that of the first Biennale of Thessaloniki- with the intention to bring together and expose works of art, in selected spaces of the city, which utilize the medium of photography or video .

The invitation to those who are interested to participate, does not have a specific thematic limitation. The locations which are defined by Foucault as heterotopias have the potential to function as a thematic inspiration, without taking away each artist's personal interpretation/statement of heterotopias.

In the text with the title " Des Espaces Autres-Heterotopies" Michel Foucault identifies heterotopias as real places as opposed to utopias that constitute locations without an actual place, an ideal version of the society.

The heterotopias are functional places, within the societies, with comprehensive and established principles and they form their own terms of access and crossing. The author is using as an example, places such as cemeteries, psychiatric institutions, prisons, nursing homes, gardens, museums, libraries, record offices as also as festivals, Turkish baths, cinemas, brothels, colonies, ships. The later ones are considered to be, by the author, the major aspects of heterotopias.

Heterotopias also in a perplexed manner are associated with the concept of time. In some cases, such as in museums and libraries, time is continuously accumulated, while in festivals, time is appearing under the shape of randomness.

The Public Screen program is trying through the network to approach the universal artistic community.

The invitation to those who are interested in participating is going to come into view in Greek and in English at the Biennale's web site. The proposals' submission must be sent through mail until the 30 th of May 2007.

Terms of Participation

Each artist can participate in the project with a video work (maximum duration 5'- without sound) or with a series of photos (maximum 10). The selection of works that are going to be presented in the project is going to be made by the curator, Syrago Tsiara.

Contact - Proposals' Submission:

State Museum Of Contemporary Art Kolokotroni 21 Moni Lazariston 56430 Thessaloniki Greece For the Public Screen Curator: Syrago Tsiara Tel +2310 - 589140, 589155 Fax +2310 - 600123 Ε - mail for the Photo Submission: publicscreen@cact.gr

Submission's Deadline: 30 th of May 2007

The works are going to be presented in September of 2007 .

The screens are going to be placed at the Moni Lazariston space, the harbor and the Thessaloniki airport. The possibility of additional places of exhibition, such as squares, university campuses, malls and means of public transportation, are going to be announced.

After the end of the Biennale all the participators are going to receive by mail the event's catalogue. The organizers of this project do not have the responsibility of returning the material that is not going to be selected for the project.

  Each of the portfolios must contain the required material as follows:

-One piece (for video works) or several pieces (up to 10 photos) in digital archives, in two copies. The technical requirements are discussed further down .

-Name, surname, address, telephone number, fax (if applicable), email address

-Title of the work

-Short description of the art-work (up to 100 words)

-Short biographical note (up to 150 words) which is going to include place and date of birth, studies, group or solo exhibitions, medium of preferences.

-A written authorization, signed by the artist which is going to appear as follows: 1. I assign to the State Museum of Contemporary Art and the Center of Contemporary Art of Thessaloniki the right of projection, publication and reproduction of my piece in a digital or printed form with the intention of the exposure of contemporary art in various libraries, museums, galleries and educational institutions of Greece and abroad as well.

2. My portfolio of participation will remain in the archives of the State Museum of Contemporary Art.

After the completion of the program a catalogue is going to be published and distributed in a printed or digital form to all the participators of the Public Screen program.

The State Museum of Contemporary Art will arrange the distribution of the catalogue in Greece and abroad.

Technical Requirements

1. For Video Works

Digital carriers :

Systems:

for best quality PAL 25 frames per second or NTSC 29.97 frames per second (all will be converted to PAL).

Description:

•  PAL 4:3

Frame size: 720h, 576v

Pixel aspect ratio: D1/DV PAL (1,067)

48 or 32 KHZ

•  PAL 16:9

Frame size: 720h, 576v

Pixel aspect ratio: D1/DV PAL Widescreen 16:9 (1,422)

48 or 32 KHZ

•  NTSC 4:3

Frame size: 720h, 480v

Pixel aspect ratio: D1/DV NTSC (0,9)

48 or 32 KHZ

•  NTSC 16:9

Frame size: 720h, 480v

Pixel aspect ratio: D1/DV NTSC Widescreen 16:9 (1,200)

48 or 32 KHZ

•  SD or HDV accepted

Accepted file format:

•  Uncompressed

•  Mpeg2

•  Microsoft avi, codec avi DV for best quality, or in any codec you want, should be included in your package. Please prefer popular codec with standard frame per second and pixel aspect ratio.

•  Quick Time, same as Microsoft avi

Note: please choose codec DV for best quality, in all other formats unaccepted errors or artifacts may occur.

 

2. For Photographs

Image files

Your images should have the maximum characteristics:

Width:2500pixels X Height 1800pixels (approximately)

Resolution=300pixels/inch

Color Mode=RGB 8bit/channel

Pixel Aspect Ratio: Square

The image format should be:

Tiff (for maximum quality) or JPEG (compressed)

Please do not convert JPEG files into Tiff format (there are no quality benefits because although the file size increases there isn't any image quality improvement).