Compression Testing / Corrugated Cardboard

22 is looking for entries for its third gallery exhibit, Compression Testing. 22 is a new multi-use creative space in Berwyn, just west of downtown Chicago. We opened in early December, and in January we presented our first curated gallery show, to great success. Now we're putting together our second juried show, which will focus primarily on an exploration of a single material: corrugated cardboard.

We have two goals at 22: to showcase the work of emerging and established artists and designers from within the Chicago area, and to bring innovative and imformative work to our community from the rest of the world. To reach these goals, we're positioning ourselves as a design studio and flexible art space, serving as a venue for gallery exhibitions, markets, installations, performances, and so on. We're very passionate about our space supporting the work of both designers and artists -- it's our belief that there is no concrete distinction between the two.

With that in mind, our decision to focus on one particular marterial with this show speaks to the importance of "material" within both art and design. Much of art and design is fundamentally based on gaining an intimate understanding of material properties, and then exploiting those properties for an expressive purpose. We've chosen corrugated cardboard because of its ubiquitousness and importance in solving purely technical design problems, and because of its growing presence in contemporary art, as work grapples with questions of permanence, accessibility, and longevity, and connections to identity, portraiture, reuse, shelter, and so on.

For this show, we're looking for work that is primarily constructed from corrugated cardboard. Other materials can be included, of course, but the bulk of each piece presented in the show needs to be based around corrugated cardboard. What that means is entirely up to you. We're looking for 2d work and 3d work, "art" work and "design" work, conceptual work, ornamental work, temporary work, permanent work, scientific work, engineering work, etc...

The show will open with a reception on Friday, March 16, and then it will be up in the 22 space for four weekends. The deadline for submissions is 5pm on Friday, March 2. Feel free to submit up to five pieces for consideration. Work must be gallery-ready to be considered, but, due to the material-based restrictions of the show, we're open to non-standard display methods. We encourage you to make new work for this show -- you can submit in-process pieces, but they must be gallery-ready by the time the show opens. There is no submission fee, however you are responsible for getting work to and from the gallery.

Submission requirements:

• Artist name and contact information (e-mail, phone number)
• CV
• A written description of your submission, including size and display requirements
• Photos of the work

E-mail submissions to [email protected]

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