WOF World Ornamental Forum, May 4-8, 2016, Kirchner Museum Davos »Modelle für die beste aller möglichen Biennalen«

Swindon (GB), Magic Roundabout

CALL FOR LETTERS OF INTEREST/ APPLICATIONS

The 2016 WOF will be devoted to constructing a model art biennial.

In 2017 an international art biennial is to be launched in Davos: the 2017 Kirchner Biennale Davos. To this end you are invited to help develop a model biennial that takes into account all aspects of such an event. Things to consider include a concept and theme, financing, logistics, marketing, architecture, exhibition venues and cooperation partners, selecting artists and curators etc.

For this construction of a possible biennial world various roles are to be assigned that you can apply for:

Exhibition designer Exhibition technician Architect
Biennial blogger Bookshop operator Gallerist

Guides
Café operator
Artist
Art critic
Art facilitator
Curator
Press officer
Sponsor
Web designer
And additional roles waiting to be defined…

The project sees itself as a contribution to “design science” which is mainly concerned with designs and testing models, prototypes etc. What is important, though, is that it is not so much about innovative artefacts and corresponding applications as about designs of “possible worlds.”

At the same time it is up to each of the applicants to choose their positions. They can work alongside Voltaire and his optimistic hero, Candide, on the vision of an ideal world designed to meet the requirement of being “the best of all possible worlds,” or they can follow the example of the English scholar Robert Burton and fully surrender to melancholy, failure, and the great No-Purpose. For sometimes the one who fails is indeed the smarter one who is above the illusionism of the reality- capable and the hubris of the winners and doers.

Where all of this is heading is thus completely open and depends on the ideas and inspiration of the participants. Left or right turns are possible at any time and the so-called “magic roundabout,” a supreme challenge for traffic planners and participants, is therefore the appropriate symbol for this challenge. This roundabout can be passed in both directions; in an inner ring traffic moves anti- clockwise – the continental way, so to speak – while in the outer ring traffic always moves with the times. Access to and exits from this roundabout are regulated by additional small roundabouts. For inexperienced participants it can be easy to lose track…

WOF 2016: 4 – 8 May 2016, Kirchner Museum Davos Application length limit: 6000 characters and spaces Deadline: 1 August 2015