Wimmel Research Fellowship, Germany (2019)

How do we want to encounter the living: virtually, hypothetically, cautiously? What should guide us in its design – fantasy, attentiveness, openness? How do we touch our planet? And how are we attached to it? Is the future of the earth »interstellar«? What is our relationship to the lifeworld in which we are embedded? How do we shape this relationship? And what kind of responsibility does this formation necessitate? What would happen if we no longer perceived the world as an image of »nature,« but instead as an »event« defined by technological progress, that we are taking part in? What kind of landscapes will we traverse if we increasingly shape the earth according to our own imagination? How will we distinguish between the »natural« and the »unnatural«? How will we as human beings change within this process? What does illness mean for a machine? What makes us healthy? When do we feel alive? What is a good life? And to whom will this life be granted?

CENTRAL AIM

The current thematic call for submissions for the WimmelResearch-Fellowship invites artists of all disciplines to engage with the topic of »Immortality & the Living« from an artistic point of view. Intended as a trigger for interdisciplinary exchange, the introduction of a thematic focus aims to initiate an open dialog between artists and researchers of the Robert Bosch GmbH from all fields, in which common grounds, deviations, and controversies can be discussed and constructively metabolized.

The following links lead to more information on the topics mentioned in the text from the perspective of Robert Bosch GmbH:

CONTEXT

The »WimmelResearch-Fellowship« will be awarded as part of a joint project between Robert Bosch GmbH, Akademie Schloss Solitude, and Wimmelforschung. The collaboration is based on the development of Platform 12, an experimental space designed by the artistic duo Wimmelforschung in collaboration with Bosch as part of Bosch’s center for research and advance engineering in Renningen. As an essential feature, Platform 12 contains a permanent collaboration with Akademie Schloss Solitude, in the framework of which artists of various disciplines engage with the company as indirect observers and initiators, to exchange ideas with researchers and work on their own and joint artistic projects. The fellowship is meant to encourage artists and researchers to explore new ideas and to shape future-oriented concepts together. The main focus is not necessarily the production of a specific artistic work, but the encounter and process of dialog in itself.

The next fellowship will be awarded for the period of June 1 to August 31, 2019.

Eligibility
The WimmelResearch Fellowship addresses artists (including architects, designers, authors, sound artists, performers, filmmakers, coders), who have a serious interest in the interdisciplinary exchange. A willingness to open communication and sensibility toward the specific working environment is essential. An active examination and artistic reflection of the respectively encountered working conditions in the context of Platform 12 are required. The fellowship also entails an introductory as well as a concluding presentation at the start and end of the fellowship, which introduces the artistic approach towards the topic and which initiates a comprehensive dialog with researchers from Bosch. The work’s content and form of expression are principally open and left to the artist.

- Individuals can apply for a fellowship. The fellowship is open to artists of all ages with the exception of currently enrolled university or college students.
-The fellowship is a residence fellowship; continuous daily presence (Mo–Fr) at Platform 12 is mandatory.
- Prior to the fellowship, there is minimum one-day mandatory orientation as well as the first meeting with Wimmelforschung and Robert Bosch GmbH in Stuttgart and an interview before and after the fellowship.
- Good language skills in English or German are essential

Benefits
- The funding period amounts to a maximum of three months;
- A monthly stipend of 1,200 euros (plus one-time expenses incurred by the fellowship holder traveling to and from Stuttgart from their primary residence);
- If applicable, a project-related budget;
- A combined apartment studio, furnished with electricity, water, and heat free of charge;
- For the duration of the fellowship, the respective artist will be mentored by Wimmelforschung, Akademie Schloss Solitude, and the Robert Bosch GmbH.

For more information please visit the following link:
Wimmel Research Fellowship, Germany (2019)