SF BAY AREA, SEASON 8: 2021-2022
Overview
This curatorial call is for the duration of LRLX season 8 (2021-22). It requires 5-10 hours per month of managerial work and availability from 6pm-11pm Pacific Time on the Third Tuesday of the month for each Exchange. The Light Exchange is a labor of love. We are able to provide a small $700 honorarium. Applications are due July 19, 2021.
Proposal & Responsibilities
For the first time, we are inviting curatorial teams (of two or more) to program and oversee both the conceptual and logistical details of the season 8 Exchanges. This means planning the program in advance, including choosing who the speakers will be, what format their contribution may take, and what platform they use to participate. With administrative support from additional LRLX team members, your team will then be responsible for implementing the program through the season.
We are interested in proposals that follow the usual formatting of Exchanges (2-3 artists presenting in-person with or without A/V aids), as well as those that re-imagine the established format in innovative ways. Examples of this might include experimental digital or in-person platforms, or proposed alternatives to the regular monthly schedule. As a small organization, please note that feasibility of proposals will be an evaluation criterion. If you have any questions about this, please feel free to contact us directly before submitting.
For each Exchange, it is necessary to understand what each speaker will be discussing, so that you can facilitate the evening’s discussion in a way that offers insight and easy access to different themes for a broad audience. It also means taking care of all logistics so that each speaker, your team, and the Exchange host are adequately prepared for a smooth evening of talks. The critical and playful dialogic nature of LRLX is one of its best characteristics, and we take this preparation very seriously as part of the conceptual mission of LRLX.
LRLX Season 8 Dates:
LRLX begins in September and ends in April, gathering on the third Tuesday of the month for 7 total Exchanges. Historically, we present one Exchange per month, with a break in December. However, we also welcome proposals with alternate schedules, should your proposal need conceptual or logistical flexibility.
Location:
LRLX occurs in living rooms around the San Francisco Bay Area, and we are open to virtual or hybrid alternatives. If you aren’t local, please make a note of how you plan to be present and able to carry out the curatorial tasks.
Structure of the Light Exchange:
In previous LRLX seasons, curators arrive at 6pm to set up, and speakers arrive at 6:45pm. Doors open at 7pm and talks start at 7:30pm. Each speaker presents for 15 minutes, with a 10 minute conversation to follow. We take a short break between speakers and have a longer group dialogue at the end of the night. Curators stay to clean up.
Responsibilities: Broad Strokes
Plan out the season’s speakers in advance
Plan out the host living rooms/online platforms in advance
Invite speakers, and consult with them on their talk and the form it will take before they present, gather their bio + info for our website and newsletters
Schedule check-in calls with presenters prior to each Exchange
At each event:
Set up the living room/online space
Tech check each speaker’s presentation when they arrive
Introduce the evening
Facilitate so that a conversation amidst the community and speakers unfolds in a casual, thoughtful/critical, accessible, meaningful, and engaged yet not-too-formal way. Be prepared to respectfully and thoughtfully wrap up a dialogue that exceeds time, is too much of a monologue, has deviated too far off topic for too long, or is exclusive and does not provide an entry point for others
If Exchange is in person, bring snacks or pizza (reimbursed of course) and help lay it out as well as help clean up the home after everyone has left
Thank everyone involved, by email
Why this open call?
Liat Berdugo and Elia Vargas co-founded and co-curated LRLX from 2014-18. In the following years, LRLX has welcomed guest curators Dorothy R. Santos and Tanya Gayer to the team. We envision guest curation as yearly, rotating projects to bring broader perspectives, interests, and viewpoints to LRLX as we change and grow.
Decisions
Panelists are Liat Berdugo, LRLX co-founder; Isalina Chow, LRLX programs coordinator; Tanya Gayer, LRLX Season 7 guest curator; and Elia Vargas, LRLX co-founder. Decisions will be announced on August 1.
Deadline
Please submit your application by July 19, 2021.
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APPLICATION
We’ve tried to make this short and to the point. Please submit your answers to these questions along with your CV to livingroomlightexchange@gmail.com
Have you attended LRLX? (Yes/No)
Have you worked with LRLX in the past? If so, in what capacity?
Who is in your team and where are you each based?
Why would you like to curate for LRLX and what format do you envision season 8 taking? Tell us about your proposal.
Who are some artists / cultural producers you’d like to curate?