Submit a Project

Call for Participation

FIGMENT Toronto September 21 & 22, 2024

Trinity Bellwoods Park, Toronto

Founded in 2007 on New York City’s Governors Island, what began as a few thousand enthusiasts enjoying a handful of participatory art projects on a sunny July afternoon has ballooned into a multi-day, multi-city event that has drawn tens of thousands of participants in cities including NYC, Hong Kong, Boston, Philadelphia, San Diego, Baltimore, Phoenix, Dallas, Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Oakland (CA), Boulder (CO), Washington (DC), Jackson (MS), Decatur (GA), North Adams (MA), Derby (UK), and Geelong (Australia). FIGMENT Toronto began in 2013, and seeks to continue FIGMENT's mission to offer free, inclusive and participatory art to entire communities, removing the barriers of museum and gallery walls and entrance fees and blurring the lines between those who create and those who enjoy art.

This year, FIGMENT will take place in Toronto on September 21 & 22 at Trinity Bellwoods Park. FIGMENT Toronto is an ongoing event designed to promote spontaneous collaboration, active communication, and significant fun. Scheduled artists will commingle with contributors bringing unplanned commissions to the site.

The curators of FIGMENT Toronto invite proposals for interactive art of all mediums from local and regional artists, as well as artists across the United States and internationally. From installation, to performance art, to dance and video, FIGMENT Toronto hopes to showcase a diverse range of interactive and collaborative works. Selected works will highlight FIGMENT principles such as inclusion, self-reliance, participation, and de-commodification. Artists are welcome to submit a previously exhibited art pieces, please contact [email protected] if you wish to resubmit a project from a previous year.

Before you submit your proposal for an interactive project to FIGMENT Toronto, please take a moment to read the FIGMENT Toronto Artist FAQ and the information on this page – to give you the necessary guidelines to submit your project as FIGMENT-worthy as possible!

Proposal Criteria:

FIGMENT participants can choose to enter their submission in one of the categories covering two main fields: Performance and Installation — or, simply put, People and Things. Projects can include but are not limited to: installations, games, workshops, (roving) performances, multimedia, electronic art, music.

Your FIGMENT Weekend project can be submitted by an individual or group of individuals. Projects will be included based on creativity, interactivity, structural integrity, sustainability, feasibility, budget, and community involvement:

Creativity:

Your piece should be visually stunning and wildly innovative. Your proposal should state a clear concept, theme or central idea. You are welcome to submit previously exhibited projects.

Interactivity:

Your project MUST provide for ongoing interactivity and participation from visitors to FIGMENT. This could be as simple as a way visitors can move, influence, or play with your art, or simply involving the audience in your performance. It could also involve transforming, adding to, or fundamentally altering the art project over the course of the day. In the questionnaire, please be sure to fully explain how your project will be participatory and engage visitors at FIGMENT.

Structural Integrity:

This is not a traditional art event. When you design a piece for FIGMENT imagine that it will be climbed on by 15 children at a time, kicked, walked on, etc. – for an entire day. If it rains, there is limited shelter, and water will gather in low-lying areas. Keeping that in mind, build for the apocalypse and consider a modular design for ease of transport and installation and de-installation. Although we have not had acts of intentional vandalism, anything that moves, is shiny or removable will be played with and pulled on in ways you did not imagine. Also when thinking about your submission, think about how your project will affect other projects. Is it noisy? Does it require quiet? Does it have the potential to be messy? Finally, remember that all artists must adhere to Toronto Park guidelines and rules, with regard to environmental presentation and general safety.

Sustainability:

Please consider your materials carefully. Where do they come from? Where will they go after the event is over? Given the temporary nature of any installation, if possible please consider creating your work from found waste materials, or from materials that can be temporarily appropriated and then reused after the installation. One of FIGMENT’s main principles is Leave no Trace. We are committed to leaving no physical trace of our activities wherever we gather. Be prepared and committed to clean up your art project after FIGMENT is done, to leave the park in a better state than you found it. From experience, we highly recommend not using any paper that is left alone as paper tends to rip and create MOOP (Matter Out Of Place) volunteers and artists must clean up Saturday night.

Feasibility:

Please note that you will be responsible for the design, construction, maintenance, installation, execution and de-installation of your project. All projects will be installed in Trinity Bellwoods Park starting Saturday, September 21 at 9 AM. Projects must be designed to be disassembled. De-installation will occur from 6 PM Sunday, September 22nd. All projects must be removed by 8 PM on Sunday, September 22nd. Your proposal MUST include a cleanup plan. Artists are solely responsible for the successful installation and de-installation of their projects. Figment staff will inspect your site for MOOP before giving you your honorarium on Sunday. If your site is not spotless, it may affect the amount of honorarium you receive.

Budget:

Think carefully about the materials that you will be using to create your project. Since FIGMENT is a completely volunteer run organization and event, we are unable to supply materials and there is no funding available for material stipends. We encourage artists to seek outside sources of funding. As FIGMENT grows, we will strive for art grants from the City of Toronto and Provincial/Federal art grant organizations.

Community Involvement

FIGMENT is a large-scale participatory arts project that is created by a diverse community of volunteers. We look forward to your being a part of this community, and to volunteering to help make the FIGMENT event and exhibitions happen.

We encourage you to consider the following before submitting your project proposal:

Drawing inspiration from other community-based arts events, the development, production, and experience of FIGMENT are guided by 11 principles, one of which is DECOMMODIFICATION. FIGMENT seeks to create social environments that are unmediated by commercial sponsorship, transactions, or advertising. We will not substitute consumption for experience. For all 11 Principles of FIGMENT, click here.
Artists will work with their assigned curator to realize their project; your curator will answer any questions you might have during the course of preparing for, installing and de-installing your project.
Artists must personally be onsite activating their project during the entire event.
Artists are responsible for any volunteers needed during the weekend, or for installation or de-installation. FIGMENT staff will work with you and your curator to try and assist with volunteer needs, but we cannot promise anything. Remember that FIGMENT is about radical self-reliance.
All artists will be asked to sign a contract outlining their responsibilities and what they can expect from FIGMENT.