Call for projects: The Metabolic Sublime

New energy models, agri-logistic automation, ecosystem resilience, territorial instrumentalisation, residual circularity, decarbonisation, geoengineering... Medialab Matadero is now opening the call for proposals that address the theme of its new LAB#02 “The Metabolic Sublime,” which urges us to radically reimagine current energy regimes on a planetary scale, and to design the protocols, tools, institutions, cultures and/or dynamics that would make them possible.

The projects will be developed in a two-week intensive workshop coordinated by renowned international experts and artists who may be joined by collaborators from different disciplines and backgrounds.

The authors of the selected projects will be able to travel to Madrid with all expenses covered  for the duration of the workshop, which will take place in person in the facilities of Medialab Matadero, from January 25 to February 11, 2023.

Following the workshop, the results will be unveiled at a public event within Medialab Matadero’s OpenLab festival, which will take place in Madrid between February 10 and 11.

What kind of projects are we looking for?
We are interested in all kinds of projects—from highly technical to other more experimental ones—no matter their stage of development—from incipient ideas to projects in their final stages of definition and testing—that would benefit from the context of collaboration and co-creation offered by Medialab. The only proviso is that they must address the LAB#02 theme of “The Metabolic Sublime.”

This includes proposals that encourage the invention, construction and deployment of alternative metabolic systems and mechanisms regardless of the scale at which they operate, advancing research in both micro-scale frameworks—the generation of new materials, energy production systems, molecular engineering, carbon capture mechanisms or bio-manufacturing—and macro-scale frameworks—alternative governance models, radical logistical protocols, institutional design, new platforms, circular longtermism or geo-engineering-.

Who can apply?
This call is open to individuals and groups with any level of qualification and from such diverse disciplines as design, art, architecture, urban planning, economics, film, photography, journalism, digital media, environmental sciences, philosophy, engineering, social studies, political sciences, programming, materials science, activism or indeed any other field.

Priority will also be given to applicants who do not have a degree or any institutional affiliation but can demonstrate a high level of creativity, critical thinking and other potentiality. There is no age limit for applicants. We do not ask for a CV or letters of recommendation.

For more information about the call for projects, click here. Or visit the “The Metabolic Sublime” website.

Applications are open until October 9, 2022.