Short Description
The Photographers’ Gallery and Goethe-Institut London invite proposals for two micro-commissions from artists or collectives based in the UK or Germany.
This free open call marks the beginning of a new collaboration between The Photographers’ Gallery and Goethe-Institut London. Together, we seek to explore the cultural, societal, emotional, and aesthetic implications of creating art for — and with — machines. The resulting research and artworks will be presented on Unthinking Photography, our platform exploring photography’s automated, networked life.
Proposals may address (but are not limited to) themes such as:
- Human-in-the-loop
- Ghost in the machine
- Machinic audiences: artworks created for systems or non-human agents e.g. social media bots, automation, digital twins, AI companions
- Emotion detection and affective computing
- Anthropomorphic intelligence
- Synthetic cultures
- Training, reinforcement, or continuous learning systems
- Intersections between creativity and AI-driven infrastructures
- computation pipelines between creativity and other uses of AI
- Prompt engines
- Geographical restrictions of knowledge and censored response
- Emerging aesthetics shaped by AI
- AI psychosis and machine hallucination
- Collective intelligence and distributed cognition
- Computation and data colonialism
Eligibility
The open call is open to all practitioners over the age of 18 based in the UK and Germany. There is no need to have studied at an educational institution in the UK or elsewhere. TPG encourages applications from all individuals and groups who meet the criteria and whose work shows outstanding talent, originality and innovation. The Photographers’ Gallery is committed to equal opportunities and we encourage applications from all persons without discrimination.
The open call is open to artists and collectives engaged in photographic and visual practices, such as photography, moving image, digital and computational arts.
Submission Requirements
a. Your name and contact details
b. A project proposal (200 words),
c. How your proposal links to the open call (200 words)
d. Likely outcomes, including technical requirements and how you will make this, or what support you will need. (200 words)
e. Examples of previous work and/or a link/attachment to a portfolio.
How to Apply
Online Application
Program Benefits & Awards
The opportunity is open to artists and collectives engaged in photography and visual practices. Each selected proposal will receive a fee of €1,500.
Entry Fee
None
Location
London, United Kingdom
Timeline
- Application Deadline: 20 November 2025
Website Link: https://unthinking.photography/other/open-call-inverted-world-labs
