CIRCA (art platform) explained

Cultural Institute of Radical Contemporary Arts
Founder:Josef O'Connor[1]
Area Served:Worldwide (London, New York, Seoul, Tokyo, Berlin, Milan, Los Angeles, Melbourne)
Industry:Art & Culture
Foundation:October 2020[2]
Location:Piccadilly Circus, London

The Cultural Institute of Radical Contemporary Arts (CIRCA) is an art and culture platform based in London's Piccadilly Circus.[3] Founded in October 2020, they commission and stream a monthly program of art and culture for three minutes every evening across a global network of billboards in London, Tokyo, New York, Los Angeles, Milan, Berlin, Hong Kong, Melbourne and Seoul.[4] [5]

History

CIRCA was established in 2020 by British-Irish artist Josef O'Connor.[6] [7] They have a free public art program which is presented in partnership with Europe's largest screen, Piccadilly Lights, and distributed across a global network of billboard screens in Tokyo and Seoul.

The daily public art program pauses the advertisements across a global network of screens for three minutes every evening. They commission new work to fill the space that considers the world in response to the present year: circa 2020, 2021, etc. It is the largest digital art exhibition in Europe.

The first artist to fill the three-minute daily slot was Ai Weiwei,[8] who is quoted as saying in an interview with The Art Newspaper that "CIRCA 20:20 offers a very important platform for artists to exercise their practice and to reach out to a greater public”. Other notable artists and curators whose works have been exhibited as part of the CIRCA programs include Yoko Ono, Marina Abramović, Cauleen Smith, Eddie Peake, Patti Smith,[9] [10] James Barnor,Vivienne Westwood David Hockney, Alvaro Barrington and Anne Imhof.

Each commission for the project is approved by an independent council chaired by the British independent curator and ex-director and chief curator of The Royal Academy, Norman Rosenthal. Other members include the Ghanaian-British architect Sir David Adjaye, Ramita Navai, Greg Sanderson and Patrick Morey-Burrows.[11]

  1. Circaeconomy

Each month, the exhibiting artist creates a print sold online to support the #CIRCAECONOMY initiative. Launched with Ai Weiwei in October 2020, a percentage of the profits from each print is circulated back into helping build an economy that commissions new public art in the community, to nurture more diverse cultural industries and supports emerging creative potential. In May 2021, CIRCA partnered with Dazed to launch 'Class of 2021' a new global arts initiative awarding one emerging artist with a #CIRCAECONOMY cash prize of £30,000 generated from the sale of artist prints.[12]

Profits have also been used to support institutions, including Chisenhale Gallery and The Showroom with no-strings cash grants. Since launching in October 2020, CIRCA has distributed over £500,000 in cash grants, scholarships[13] and donations. Following the success of their Yoko Ono[14] collaboration in March 2022, CIRCA donated £300,000 to the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund

Programme

Since its launch in October 2020, CIRCA has commissioned new-media work from emerging and established artists every month. The work is often socially involved and motivated by the desire to engage with public discourse and debate. For three minutes each day, a monthly rotating digital art program pauses the commercial advertisements on London's iconic Piccadilly Lights, Seoul's K-Pop Square and Tokyo's Yunika Vision.

On the occasion of British artist David Hockney presenting his iPad drawing “Remember you cannot look at the sun or death for very long,” in May 2021, a total of 85 screens, including New York Times Square and Pendry West Hollywood joined CIRCA in presenting the largest digital art exhibition in the world.

The CIRCA public art program is free to attend and presented at the same time every evening - 20:20 throughout the year 2020 and 20:21 throughout the year 2021, and so forth. It is also streamed on the CIRCA website.

CIRCA 20:20

CIRCA 20:21

CIRCA 20:22

CIRCA 20:23

Notable events

Notes and References

  1. https://www.sohohouse.com/house-notes/issue-006/art-and-design/how-josef-oconnor-and-david-hockney-are-lighting-up-the-world “How Josef O’Connor and David Hockney are lighting up the world”
  2. Edmonds, Lizzie “Ai Weiwei takes over Piccadilly Circus with video artwork from his early years”, The Evening Standard, 1 October 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2021
  3. Buck, Louisa “New public art project in London will show works by Ai Weiwei and Eddie Peake on Europe's largest billboard”, The Art Newspaper, 24 September 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2021
  4. Rodorigo, Clara “London, Ai Weiwei on mega screen for Europe's largest digital art exhibition”, Domus, 12 October 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2021
  5. Margolies, Jane “New David Hockney Billboards to Brighten 5 Cities in May”, The New York Times, 29 April 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021
  6. SEGALOV, MICHAEL “Being Mr Westwood: Vivienne is ‘eccentric, serious and genuine’”, The Guardian, 26 June 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021
  7. Lloyd, Anthony “Ai Weiwei: ‘I am going to disappear’”, The Times, 8 OCTOBER 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2021
  8. Thorpe, Vanessa “Ai Weiwei on China, free speech – and a message for London”, The Guardian, 4 October 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2021
  9. Sturges, Fiona “Patti Smith: 'As a writer, you can be a pacifist or a murderer'”, The Guardian, 29 December 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2021
  10. Yalcinkaya, Günseli “Watch Patti Smith, Ai Weiwei, and more review 2020's chaos and creativity”, Dazed, 5 January 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021
  11. Welch, Adrian “David Hockney at Piccadilly Circus”, e-architect, 1 May 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021
  12. Rogers, Daniel “Video artists: do you want your work shown on the Piccadilly Lights?”, Dazed, 28 May 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021
  13. Cox, Sarah “Art print sales fund #CIRCAECONOMY Scholarship Program”, Goldsmiths University, 18 January 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022
  14. Carter, Dom “Yoko Ono interrupts the world's biggest screens to share a message of peace”, Creative Boom, 9 March 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022
  15. Writer, Staff “L'arte anglofona risponde al Coronavirus sul più grande schermo d'Europa”, Italian Vogue, 20 November 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2021
  16. Alexander, Ella “Cauleen Smith: "We're not human without culture; art saves people"”, Harpers Bazaar, 13 November 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2021
  17. Brewer, Jenny “Cauleen Smith takes over Piccadilly Lights with Covid Manifesto”, It's Nice That, 2 November 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2021
  18. Heardman, Adam “Whipping Water: Anne Imhof vs. Hate for Hate's Sake”, Trebuchet Magazine, 13 July 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021
  19. Lloyd-Smith, Harriett “Emma Talbot on optimism, feminism and reconfiguring the roots of power”, Wallpaper Magazine, 18 March 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021
  20. Serpentine “James Barnor: Past, Present, Future Presented in collaboration with CIRCA. Every day at 20:21pm”, Serpentine Galleries, 1 April 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2021
  21. Chisenhale Gallery “Nikita Gale: SOME WEATHER”, Chisenhale Gallery, 24 May 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2021
  22. Yuna, Park “Korean artist Jun So-jung to join Circa's project in August”, The Korea Herald, 6 July 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021
  23. https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/01/11/artist-ai-weiwei-reads-dalai-lamas-new-letter-to-the-world-the-art-of-hope “Artist Ai Weiwei reads Dalai Lama's new letter to the world: 'The Art of Hope'”
  24. Tsui, Enid “Hong Kong included in global public screenings of video for Ukraine by artist Anne Imhof during February”, South China Morning Post, 5 February 2023. Retrieved 22 July 2023
  25. Banks, Grace “‘Putin Is Scared Of Artists’— Pussy Riot's Nadya Tolokonnikova On Her Political Art And New Feminist Film ‘Hope’”, Forbes Magazine, 10 March 2023. Retrieved 22 July 2023
  26. Lloyd-Smith, Harriett “Laurie Anderson's animated notebook drawings to be screened globally on the full moon”, Wallpaper Magazine, 3 April 2023. Retrieved 22 July 2023
  27. Lawson-Tancred, Jo “British Painter Frank Bowling's First Digital Artwork, an Evocative Play on Color, Lights Up London's Piccadilly Circus”, ArtNet, 4 May 2023. Retrieved 22 July 2023
  28. Web site: Rabb . Maxwell . German artist Cemile Sahin wins the 2023 Circa Prize . artsy.net . 2023-10-10 . 2023-10-10.
  29. Alfredo Jaar Official Website “Alfredo Jaar Website”, Alfredo Jaar, 10 November 2023. Retrieved 15 January 2024
  30. News, Art “CIRCA PRESENTS ‘GONE? ’BY CULT LONDON-BASED NIGERIAN ARTIST, SLAWN”, Art Plugged, 4 December 2023. Retrieved 12 January 2024
  31. Buck, Louisa “Halloween with Ai Weiwei: artist's new film screens in Piccadilly Circus and online tonight”, The Art Newspaper, 31 OCTOBER 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2021
  32. Duponchelle, Valérie “Patti Smith et Anne Imhof, deux artistes du tonnerre pour lancer la nouvelle année à Londres”, Le Figaro, 28 December 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2021
  33. Writer, House “James Barnor, Adwoa Aboah e Vogue Italia”, Italian Vogue, 8 April 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021
  34. Malzahn, Catherine "Vivienne Westwood celebrates her 80th birthday in the most Vivienne Westwood way", CR Fashion Book, 8 April 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021

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