CALL FOR GAMES: SHALL MAKE, SHALL BE (DEADLINE: AUGUST 8 2020)

The Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon University is pleased to announce Shall Make, Shall Be, an exhibition of playable works centered on the individual amendments in the US Bill of Rights.

Ten artists and game makers will receive $5,000 commissions to create playable works addressing an individual amendment. More information, as well as a link to the submission form, is available here.

The deadline is August 8 2020

Shall Make, Shall Be: The Bill of Rights at Play invites artists and independent game makers to propose game-based artworks around the individual Amendments in the Bill of Rights. Drawing on both the legal meaning and the effect of the 10 Amendments on U.S. culture, these artworks are meant to use the mechanism of play to interrogate, critique, inform, and ask questions about our understanding of civil liberties in the 21st Century.

Ten artists will be selected, with each asked to create a playable work exploring one of the Ten Amendments from the Bill of Rights. Artists will be invited to develop their works with the support of the Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon. Artists will receive an honorarium and small budget for expenses. Upon completion of the work, artists will be expected to grant Carnegie Mellon a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to present the resulting works in the Shall Make, Shall Be: The Bill of Rights at Play project.

Selected artists will have one year to produce their playable work for inclusion in exhibitions opening Fall 2021, and will receive an artist’s fee of $5,000, plus access to a small supplemental materials budget on a per-project basis. We anticipate artist check-ins with the curatorial team every two months leading up to the first installation of the exhibition.

The ten commissioned works will be included in an exhibition opening Fall 2021 in conjunction with Carnegie Mellon University’s Frank-Ratchye STUDIO For Creative Inquiry, timed to commemorate the 230th anniversary of the Bill’s signing. There are plans to travel the show to additional sites throughout 2022. The exhibition will be accompanied by a printed publication including essays from scholars, a catalog raisonné, and artist statements.

Shall Make, Shall Be: The Bill of Rights at Play encourages proposals from artists of underrepresented and marginalized identities and backgrounds including gender, race, culture, sexuality, citizenship status, and abilities.

This project is organized through generous funding and support from the Frank-Ratchye STUDIO For Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon University.

Selection Committee

Deborah Archer (NYU Law)
Salome Asega (Ford Foundation)
Shana T Bryant (Game Developer)
R. Luke DuBois (New York University) ex officio chair
Jessica Hammer (Carnegie Mellon University)
Elizabeth Joh (UC Davis Law)
Laine Nooney (New York University)
Paolo Pedercini (Carnegie Mellon University)
John Sharp (The New School)
Astria Suparak (Independent Curator)

Read more at SHALL MAKE, SHALL BE