#figmentdc

On September 29, a New York-born art festival FIGMENT is going to sprout up in Yards Park, based around interactivity and participation.  There is an open call for installations, performances/events, and activities/games now through August 15, it is free to submit, free to participate, free to attend.  

“FIGMENT is about participation. Precisely because it requires interaction between the art, the artist, and the viewer, participatory art can be a vehicle for personal and social transformation. The passive viewer is made active, contributing to the creation, understanding and very definition of the art. These activities bring together artists and community members in ways that build relationships and encourage individual creativity. We believe visitors of all ages and backgrounds have something to offer, and invite them to participate in installation art, costuming, interactive performance, games, activities, workshops, and anything else the mind can envision .” (taken directly from the website)

FIGMENT is the weekend before the second (e)merge art fair, which will be October 4-7.  While not exactly conceived in reaction to (e)merge like But Is It Art and other satellite festivals that popped up last year, FIGMENT’s structure opposes the more formal and commercial (e)merge.  FIGMENT is predicated on eleven principles: Participation, Decommodification, Inclusion, Self-expression, Self-reliance, Giving, Communal Effort, Civic Responsibility, Leave No Trace, Immediacy, and Gratitude.  This list is going to be familiar to anyone versed in Burner ideology, with very slight wording changes and the addition of “gratitude” to the “Ten Principles” of Burning Man.  Before finding the FIGMENT principles on the website, this festival smelled to me of Burners.  There is emphasis on open-ended format over guiding subject or content, on expansive inclusion with a mission to produce real-life alternative social and political scenarios, however temporary.  

Ours is one of six FIGMENT festivals happening this year, also in Jackson, MS, Detroit, New York City, Boston, and Pittsburgh.  The first FIGMENT took place in 2007 on Governor’s Island, which had just been opened to the public in 2004.  Since then, FIGMENT has rapidly expanded and developed, and seeks to continue to grow.

Interactive and participatory art works are often appealing to a wide audience because the act of participation itself is an entryway to understanding the piece, unlike some more disengaged and esoteric contemporary art that can be alienating.  It’s something like the difference between looking at a picture of a peach and eating a peach; they are such different experiences that it’s hard to judge them on the same terms, yet given the two options which do you suppose would be more popular?  In a public context, these kinds of works have the opportunity to be gateway-art, a non-threatening encounter that may encourage audiences to seek more, perhaps harder, art experiences.  

Saturday, September 29, 2012. 11AM to 8PM

FIGMENT demonstrates what the arts can be: participatory, bursting with creativity and completely free, born from the desire to share imagination and invention between artists and the public. Help us build the creative community of Washington, DC by bringing FIGMENT DC to life!

Description

FIGMENT is a forum for the creation and display of participatory and interactive art by emerging artists across disciplines. FIGMENT began in July 2007 as a free, one-day participatory arts event on Governors Island in New York Harbor with over 2,600 participants. Since then, FIGMENT has grown significantly each year in number of projects, duration, participants, volunteers, fundraising capability...See More

General Information

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