SEARCHING THE WORLD FOR UFOs
Are we alone? Are we being watched? Who created us and what is the purpose of our lives? Is there a God, or do we live in the Matrix? Or maybe we are just an outcome of Alien experiment? Artists from all over the world are now invited to try to answer these questions.
The more science develops, the less mysteries are left to be solved. It seems to be an inseparable part of human nature – the need for mysteries. UFO is the perfect example. It has intrigued people around the world, especially since 1947, when the first documented encounter with an unidentified flying object took place. On that particular occasion the ‘flying saucer’ term has been used for the first time in history.
There have been thousands of files on UFO phenomena collected by governments around the world. Countless amount of documents, researches, videos, photographs, sketches, scientific and sci-fi books and movies, but also artistic interpretations of this topic have been created. There is an ongoing discussion between people who believe and people who don’t believe in extraterrestrial life; not forgetting about various movements uniting people who explain the development of human civilizations (paleo-astronautics) as well as beginnings of main religions in Alien activities. So many passionate researchers devote their lives to solve the mystery of UFO; the outcome of their work seems to be underestimated by the society.That’s why curators decided to work on this topic.
Why do we want to believe? Or why don’t we want to? What pushes people to search for evidence of life existing out of this world, or to fabricate one? Why artists, writers and directors get inspiration on something that hasn’t been even proven? And here we come to the main question asked by curators: how does the visual side of these researches looks like? What symbols and what aesthetic have been attached to the UFO theme?
Curators would like to invite artists to participate in the project. It’s simple – the only thing you need to do is to simply upload artworks on Tumblr, Instagram or YouTube and add the #SHOWMEYOURUFO hashtag, or submit it to the email address: [email protected]. There is no age, nationality, or amount of pictures per person restrictions. Artworks in low resolution (72 dpi) should be accompanied by the participants’ name, surname, website, contact details, and also the works must be made by the submitting artist.
Submissions can feature anything related to the UFO’s topic or it’s visual language: it can be saucers in the sky, weird plants, objects or architecture, Google Earth print screens, or even documentation of sightings or portraits of abductees / witnesses. Regarding the media – it could be photographs, stories, collages, graphics, drawings, clippings, short videos or sounds. Anything really.
Selected pieces will be included in our upcoming show, taking place this May in Krakow and also on our website: showmeyourufo.tumblr.com; some of them also in the accompanying zine published on this occasion.
Project is organized by Fresh From Poland in cooperation with FotoBzik and Paper Beats Rock.
Curator: Grażyna SiedleckaGuest curators: Karol Liver, Dawid Planeta, Iza Zdziebko
Media partners: Prism Photo Magazine, Doc! Photo Magazine