Open Call: AIL Ping-Pong #4

With the aim of implementing playful interdisciplinary interventions in the unique space of the Kassenhalle at Otto Wagner-Postsparkasse, AIL Ping-Pong is a format that repurposes the building’s architecture – specifically a former display cabinet [in German: Vitrine] of the Otto Wagner Museum in the Kassenhalle to showcase artistic projects by Angewandte alumni*.

 

In line with AIL’s mission to embrace interdisciplinary approaches, AIL Ping-Pong fosters dialogue between 2–8 artistic positions for each round. Centered around rotating themes, AIL Ping-Pong functions as a small window into the diverse artistic practices of Angewandte alumni, offering a range of perspectives that explore parallels, contrasts, or extensions within a thematic framework.

In its fourth edition, AIL Ping-Pong will focus on the theme of: BLOB

Blob is not just an onomatopoeic word; in biology, it refers to a specific type of fungus consisting of a single, enormous cell. It has no brain, yet it can still learn, solve problems, and move. A blob is a form without fixed contours. It defies clear categorization: it grows, melts, merges, engulfs, and mutates. Something between body and mass, organism and data packet, slime trail and digital artifact. It can appear soft and funny – or threatening, viral, uncontrollable. As an onomatopoeia, Blob can be read as something that surprises or "blobs up.” We are interested in works that understand the blob not only as a form, but also as a state, a figure of thought, or a cultural symptom. What meanings does the formless carry? When does the blob become something alive? What fears, desires, or visions of the future do we project onto it?

Fluid ideas, unfinished states, and forms of the in-between are also welcome. Surprise us!

 

AIL provides the space as well as communication around the project. Additionally to the visibility AIL can offer each artist an compensation fee of 250 EUR (incl. VAT). Artworks are insured for the time of the display.

 

The open call is adressed to alumni from all departments of the Angewandte. The participants for AIL Ping-Pong will be selected by AIL based on the interesting pairs, potential contrasts, or similarities of projects and artistic positions.

 

 

Timeline: