Vol. 2, Issue #1 / Autumn 2023
Editors: Filipa Cruz, Fabrício Fava, Manuela Bronze, Orlando Vieira Francisco and Pedro Amado
Submission deadline: September 1, 2023
On November 30, 1999, photographer Allan Sekula sent a letter to the person who was considered the richest in the world at that time – Bill Gates – indicating his intention to be received at the billionaire’s “dream house” and see Gate’s new purchase, the painting Lost on the Grand Banks by Winslow Homer acquired for $30 million.
An unusual fact described in the letter is Sekula’s proximity to the house, reachable by swimming. However, Sekula was prevented from approaching the house due to the presence of maritime security sensors – keeping him at a considerable distance from the property (and Homer’s painting). The scene is best visualized with the letter integrated into the photographic triptych, thus composing the work Dear Bill Gates.
Sekula’s motivation and choice between drifting in the open sea (as well as the fisherman in rough seas portrayed in the painting), and the private property, evidences an investigative process in which the distance raises numerous questions of both geographical and political nature, such as the globalization and the statutes of social classes, as a function of the production of space and capital.
Dear Bill Gates also inspires us to think about other scientific and technological areas that could have the concept of distance, as an essential factor in research and development practices.
For the next Autumn issue of HUB, we are interested in broadening the understanding of DISTANCE by launching our first open call. We invite you to think about artistic, scientific and technological practices that explore the notion of distance as an essential factor and critical concept in research and development practices.
We aim to publish essays and artistic research/processes that address questions such as the forms of interaction between artists/designers and the audience, or our relation with distance technologies, whether these are provided by data sent by satellites or that meet work and teaching activities, among others.
After all, what are the strategies and approaches to conceiving distance in artistic research?
How can one address the aesthetics of distance and other possible correlated aesthetics such as presence, entanglement, or the common?
What new narratives and visual artifices can be invented to reveal something inevitable or ineffable?
What would be the possibilities of the distance between the real and the imagined world? Could it be measured?