Call for proposals: 2018 summer design residency

The MDP Summer Design Residency is one of the few awards to support experimental design work that engages emerging issues in science, technology, culture, and society. The residency provides the opportunity to become part of the MDP’s energetic design community for 7-14 weeks during the summer. The residency will be granted to a creative practitioner or team whose proposal demonstrates how design/making can be used as a mode of inquiry and critical engagement.

The residency award includes studio space and shop access, a 5,000 USD stipend, a 5,000 USD project budget, and a team of graduate student interns for 7 weeks. The residency culminates in a small public exhibition and presentation.

Call for proposals
This call for proposals welcomes designers, filmmakers, architects, artists, and makers of all kinds to submit a proposal for design-driven research to be conducted in Summer 2018, in residence in the MDP’s Wind Tunnel studio. The winning proposal will use design as a mode of inquiry into emerging issues in science, technology, culture, and/or society.

In the MDP, we define “media” broadly. Therefore, the residency is open to a range of disciplinary perspectives and practices. Projects that are the best fit will take a critical and culturally-specific approach to: futurisms and speculations; network and digital cultures; pervasive computing, AI and machine learning, and/or the internet of things; mixed realities at any scale from micro to urban to global; humanisms, colonialisms, users, and other social constructs open to critique through design.

We are looking for projects that allow for discovery-through-making during the residency period. Applicants should have a track record of experimental design and research projects as evidenced through robust documentation and dissemination, and should have some experience managing a team.

We cannot fund commercial projects—projects for which the researcher is being paid by a client—however we are not averse to projects that have potential commercial applications. The residency is not suitable for the latter stages of a project’s “finish” and we will favor proposals that actively engage the student team in the design and research process. The research page of this site shows past residents and faculty research projects that we have supported.

Jury
The jury will be announced in early January 2018. Past jurors have included: Paola Antonelli, Fiona Raby, Jiminez Lai, Natalie Jeremijenko, Rosten Woo, Mimi Zeiger, Bruce Sterling, Cher Potter, Ken Wark, Pedro Gadanho, Yuri Suzuki, and more.

Residency
Residents are given project space for up to 14 weeks within the MDP studio. Housed in a former supersonic jet testing facility, the MDP studio is part of a complex called the Wind Tunnel Graduate Center for Critical Practice, which includes the Wind Tunnel Gallery, the Graduate Art MFA studios and galleries, and the Hixon Courtyard, in the heart of Art Center’s south campus in Pasadena, California. The award includes access to the College’s renowned shops and production facilities from letterpress to video editing to large-scale rapid prototyping.

The resident receives a 5,000 USD stipend and can submit a project budget for up to 5,000 USD.

The resident selects a project team of 2–3 graduate student research assistants (media designers/design researchers) for 7 weeks.

Facilities
The MDP will provide dedicated project space. The MDP studio is adjacent to the Graduate Art studios and galleries and will be home to at least one other research team, post-graduate research fellows, and MDP research faculty.

Researchers will have access within the studio to a digital shop, desktop and laptop computers, AR and VR lab, digital video editing bay, recording equipment, color printers and plotters, projectors and miscellaneous digital devices. Researchers will also have access to the the College Library, campus workshops for wood, metal, rapid prototyping, letterpress printing, screenprinting, the Color, Materials, and Trends Laboratory, and more.

The South Campus is walking distance to good housing options and shopping. It is adjacent to the MTA Gold Line which provides easy access to Chinatown, Koreatown, and downtown L.A. There is bus service between the South Campus and the main Hillside Campus.

Research interns
MDP summer residencies offer our students the opportunity to gain first-hand experience doing research in design. Project Proposals should include plans to engage between 2–5 students as research interns and should include a job description and required skills for each position. The students will receive course credit and are available for 4 days per week for a period of 7 weeks (June 26 to August 18).

Students who are eligible to apply for a research internship will have completed at least one year of graduate school. Our students are media designers from varied backgrounds. Skills/experience may include: communication design, video, motion graphics, environmental media, physical computing prototyping, rapid prototyping, programming, and research and writing. Researchers will have the opportunity to review intern applications and may request interviews before selecting interns.

Deliverables and calendar
The resident can have access to the studio and facilities from May 14–August 24, 2018, during which time they are required to be in residence for a minimum of 7 weeks, from July 2 to August 17.

Facilities available: May 14–August 24, 2018
Student project team available: July 2–August 16 (7 weeks)
Project installation: August 16
Public discussion: August 16
Project work open to public: August 16–September 22
Public research event: September 20
De-install deadline: September 24
Full documentation due: October 1, 2018

To apply
Download this pdf for full directions.

Applicants must submit the entire application as a pdf or link by e-mail by noon, Pacific Time, February 14, 2018. The application should include a cv, project form, and 2-page project proposal.

Eligibility
Individuals who will be students at the time of the residency are not eligible, except for doctoral candidates who are ABD. We encourage recent graduates from Masters Programs to apply. Faculty from Art Center College of Design as well as other colleges and universities are encouraged to apply, as are practitioners. Full-time MDP faculty are not eligible, however part-time faculty are.

Applicants must show proof of eligibility to work in the United States during the time of the residency. The residency cannot be conducted on a tourist visa and Art Center cannot provide assistance with visas for non-citizens.

Art Center will not pay for housing, shipping, or travel to/from Art Center. However we can recommend resources to locate short-term housing and transportation. We recommend that researchers traveling from other cities, and particularly from other countries, plan to arrive 1-2 weeks prior to the start of the residency in order to allow enough time to get situated.

For more information
Kevin Wingate: kevin.wingate [​at​] artcenter.edu
Graduate Media Design Practices: www.artcenter.edu/mdp
ArtCenter College of Design: www.artcenter.edu