THEMATIC CALL
#What the Ball Are Your Doing?
DEADLINE
June 20, 2026
#What the Ball Are Your Doing?
THEMATIC CALL
A ball has its own logic.
It moves. It repeats. It escapes. It rolls out of line. It refuses to stay still long enough to become only one thing. We are looking for artists, thinkers, movers, makers, and rule-breakers who want to work with the ball not only as object, but as force, symbol, memory, game, control system, absurdity, repetition, choreography, pressure, play, delay, or drift.
DEADLINE
June 20, 2026
THE CALL
COME PLAY BALL WITH US
What the Ball Are You Doing?
Take a deep breath and imagine this with us.
Suppose you’re holding a ball right now. Maybe one. Maybe several.
Would you inspect the surface, study its weight, try to understand what it is for?
Would you toss it away?
Would you play with it for a while?
Would you make rules for it?
Would you let it make rules for you?
A ball rises and falls. It bounces, rolls, slips away, returns. It can be used for competition, research, discipline, entertainment, repetition, obsession, or passing time. We give it systems. We assign it function. We expect it to follow a path.
But a ball has its own logic.
It moves. It repeats. It escapes.
It rolls out of line.
It refuses to stay still long enough to become only one thing.
This open call begins there.
We are looking for artists, thinkers, movers, makers, and rule-breakers who want to work with the ball not only as object, but as force, symbol, memory, game, control system, absurdity, repetition, choreography, pressure, play, delay, or drift.
We are interested in works that understand the ball as more than equipment.
We want works that ask what happens when play becomes structure, when structure becomes ritual, when repetition becomes meaning, and when something so ordinary starts to feel slightly uncanny.
We welcome responses across disciplines, including but not limited to:
performance
dance
moving image
photography
installation
sound
text
interdisciplinary and experimental forms
What we are looking for:
strong artistic language
clear conceptual thinking
unusual but precise responses to the prompt
works that can hold play, tension, humor, and thought at the same time
practices that are willing to take the prompt somewhere we did not predict
This call is an invitation into a field of motion, repetition, friction, game, and mischief.
So here’s the real question:
When was the last time you did something with no obvious use?
When was the last time you let time go soft?
When was the last time you played, not to win, not to optimize, not to perform productivity, but simply to enter another relation with the world?
And maybe more importantly:
what is the ball for you?
If you already have an answer, good.
If you don’t, even better.
Come waste five more minutes with us.
Or more than that.
Submit your work.
What We Are Looking For
Clarity of direction
We look for submissions, proposals, and expressions of interest that show a clear sense of purpose, context, and relation to the opportunity.
Rigor and care
We value work that is thoughtfully developed, carefully presented, and attentive to the responsibilities of artistic, scholarly, editorial, or public-facing practice.
Distinct perspective
We are interested in voices, practices, and proposals that bring a specific position, method, language, or field of experience into view.
Openness to complexity
ELSEHERE welcomes work that can hold tension, ambiguity, research, experimentation, and layered meaning without becoming vague or unfocused.
Relevance to context
Each opportunity has its own framework. We encourage applicants and contributors to read the full call carefully and consider how their work, experience, or proposal enters that specific context.
Before You Submit
Please review the full opportunity description before submitting. Each call, program, or expression of interest may have its own eligibility, format, deadline, review process, and required materials.
Depending on the opportunity, you may be asked to provide:
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basic contact and professional information
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a short bio or practice statement
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a project description, proposal, manuscript, work sample, or statement of interest
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links to relevant work, publications, portfolios, websites, or profiles
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technical, spatial, editorial, or contextual information where applicable
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any additional materials requested in the specific call
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Please submit materials that are clear, relevant, and carefully selected. Strong submission materials do not need to be excessive. They should help us understand the work, practice, experience, or proposal on its own terms and in relation to the opportunity.
Incomplete, unclear, or unrelated submissions may be difficult to review.
Review & Consideration
Submissions and expressions of interest are reviewed according to the specific purpose of each opportunity.
Depending on the context, review may consider artistic strength, conceptual clarity, scholarly rigor, editorial fit, feasibility, field expertise, language capacity, professional experience, public relevance, and alignment with ELSEHERE or STRATUM’s current programs and publication priorities.
Selection, invitation, publication, or participation is not guaranteed. Some opportunities may involve further communication, additional materials, interviews, technical review, editorial review, or confirmation before final decisions are made.
ELSEHERE approaches review as a process of attention, not only selection. We are interested in how artistic, scholarly, and cultural practices may enter wider fields of relation, publication, public presentation, and future development.
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