APENFT Foundation Announces 2022 Open Call Theme
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Digital artists are invited to create works on the 'Post-Human Age' for a share of $105,000 in prizes.

The APENFT Foundation is inviting artists to explore the theme of the 'post-human age' in their second annual open call.

They quote American critic N Katherine Hayles, who argues that 'increasingly the question is not whether we will become post-human, for post-humanity is already here. Rather, the question is what sort of post-humans will we be?'

'What's most interesting to me is the decentralised and interdisciplinary nature of post-humanism and that critical reflection is what we really needed in the NFT space as well,' said Sydney Xiong, director of the APENFT Foundation.

Artists of all ages, nations, and occupations are invited to submit digital artworks on the theme either as individuals or in teams. Eligible artforms include (but are not limited to) videos, animations, virtual reality, augmented reality, sound art, and data-driven art.

This year's prizes include a US $20,000 grand prize, four $10,000 'best creativity' awards, six $5,000 'best category' awards, and three $5,000 Visual-Audio Awards sponsored by blockchain art platform Async Art.

'Through the Async Visual-Audio Award, we invite artists to join us to turn the existing concept of art on its head and pave the way for a whole new category of programmable media, said Conlan Rios, Founder of Async Art.

Winning artists will also receive opportunities to mint and release their NFTs on the APENFT Marketplace, exhibit their work in APENFT's museums in the Metaverse, and participate in offline exhibitions, forums, and residencies organised by the APENFT Foundation.

According to Justin Sun, founder of TRON and Chairperson of the Art Dream Fund, 'We established the Art Dream Fund to fully support creators who aspire to power the NFT art ecosystem with their creative mindset and bring about a paradigm shift in the creator economy.'

Last year's open call received over 500 submissions on the theme of 'Second Life'. The $20,000 grand prize was won by WMD Studio for their submission Infinite Falling (2021). Four artists received $10,000 for their submissions: Verdi Jackson, Kong, Allyn Belfred, and Chengcheng Shi.

'The most essential quality that distinguishes us from other open calls is our core values—great inclusivity and openness—which are also the values that govern the world of NFTs. Here, every good work has a chance to be seen,' Xiong said.

Submissions for the 2022 open call can be made on the Art Dream Fund website until 31 October.

The organising committee will then select around 200 works, which will be whittled down to 50 by a panel consisting of artists Cheng Ran and Kenny Schachter, C² Ventures' Ciara Sun, Async Art's Claire Huang, University of the Arts London lecturer and Verse team member Mimi Nguyen, and Hive Center for Contemporary Art's Laura Shao, along with votes from the TRON community.

Ultimately, the winners will be decided by a jury featuring some of the art world's major players. They are Phillips Asia Chairman Jonathan Crockett, art advisor Josh Baer, DSL Collection founder Sylvain Levy, UCCA director Philip Tinari, artist Annie Yi, and Async Art's Conlan Rios.

The winners of this year's Art Dream Fund prizes will be announced in November. —[O]