As part of the CIRCA x Dazed Class of 2022, 30 creatives will have their work shown on London’s Piccadilly Lights, with one lucky winner taking home a £30k prize
Last year, Dazed and the digital arts platform CIRCA teamed up to display the work of 30 filmmakers across huge screens in London, Tokyo, and Seoul, marking the start of a brand new initiative, Class of 2021. Now, the collaborative project is set to return with Class of 2022, and applications are open to all budding new media creators, from filmmakers, to artists and activists, to performers, poets, and gamers.
Launching today (June 23) with an open call for creatives to submit a two-and-a-half-minute piece of moving image, this year’s iteration is centred around the theme “A Future World”, drawing on CIRCA's 2022 manifesto And Now We Build Worlds (which you can read here).
30 finalists – AKA the Class of 2022 – will be selected by a star-studded group of industry leaders, including Dazed founder Jefferson Hack, Martine Syms, Precious Okoyomon, Josef O'Connor, Honey Dijon, Arca, Ruth Waters, Laure Prouvost, Guido Gregorio Daminelli, Sophie McElligott, Norman Rosenthal, Kandis Williams, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Kay Pallister, Anika Meier, Amar Ediriwira, Gemma Rolls Bentley, Caleb Femi, Juliana Huxtable, and Lindsey Mendick.
Once again, each finalist’s work will be screened daily across the month of September, at London’s Piccadilly Lights, alongside other screens in cities across the world. One artist will also receive a cash prize of £30,000, courtesy of the #CIRCAECONOMY fund, to put toward a future commission that further explores the “Future World” theme.
Generated from the sale of affordable prints by CIRCA artists such as Patti Smith, Ai Weiwei and David Hockney, #CIRCAECONOMY profits are circulated back into helping build an economy that commissions new public art in local communities, nurtures more diverse cultural industries, and supports emerging creatives. Back in March, for instance, CIRCA raised £300,000 for UN CERF, via a limited edition Yoko Ono print. In July, it is also set to host Marina Abramović’s first NFTs, built around unseen footage from the iconic performance artist’s 2001 artwork The Hero.
“After last year’s success when we launched this brilliant initiative with CIRCA, we are thrilled that the Class of 2022 is back,” says Jefferson Hack, co-Founder of Dazed Media. “This is a chance for next next generation creatives, to be broadcast to the world. Dazed has always been a platform for talent to find their feet in the creative industries. This year the theme A Future World speaks to our founding principle – the voice of the tomorrow is in the hands of the next generation.”
“45 years ago Johnny Rotten leaned over a microphone and screamed: No Future!” adds CIRCA founder Josef O’Connor. “Today, with climate breakdown, cost of living and global tensions escalating, the need for new ideas is greater than ever. This is an opportunity to present your vision of A Future World on the Piccadilly Lights. We couldn’t be more honoured to join forces again with Dazed and invite this incredible jury to platform the future generation and reinforce the mission of the #CIRCAECONOMY.”
Submit your work for a chance to enter the CIRCA x Dazed Class of 2022 here (submissions close at midnight on July 31). Find some inspirational images from last year’s exhibitions in the gallery above.