Antarctic Call for Artists! Under the Bed Gallery

Why hello there people reading this thing. I know there are actually a fair amount of you, because a few days ago someone told me that I could check visitor stats, and apparently I am not just rambling to myself on the internet (Hi four people from Russia! We probably live in similar climates!).

I've always been a bit uncomfortable with blogging because it seems a bit self aggrandizing and one sided, and I much prefer to communicate in ways that involve interaction. But I have come up with a way to make this a bit more participatory, and I've started something that I want all of YOU to be a part of.

The notion of collaboration has been on my mind a lot of late, and I have been mulling over ways to share the bizarre magic of this environment from afar. Inspired by such lovely endeavors as NEPO house, Vignettes and The Telephone Room, I am pleased to announce that I have founded the Under the Bed Gallery here at McMurdo Station, Ross Island Ice Shelf, Antarctica.

I’m currently putting together the inaugural local show “These things have come to seem normal after living this long on the ice” (for example: the fact that the discovery of a fruit fly is exciting enough to stop dinner conversations, routinely wearing shoes that have pressure valves to regulate insulating air pockets, eating 6 desserts a day, bartering with produce, and speaking entirely in acronyms), and am hoping that you lovely folks will participate in my upcoming February show, "Outside Notions of Antarctica."

I’m looking for your ideas of Antarctica—informed, idealized, or entirely fabricated. Any and all mediums happily accepted, so long as 1. you can ship it to me without violating customs agreements and 2. it’s small. As you might imagine based on the name, Under the Bed Gallery has limited space, so please keep 2D submissions to 8.5”x11” or smaller, and with 3D pieces… well, be reasonable. And know that anything shipped in a box takes a very, very long time to get down here. Feel free to submit poems, prose or any sort of audio, and if you have a performance piece that I can somehow make happen, let’s chat.

Send submissions to:
Tessa Hulls, NANA
McMurdo Station
PSC 469 Box 700
APO AP 96599

ALL SUBMISSIONS MUST BE POSTMARKED BY JANUARY 1, 2012!! Delivery times are wildly inconsistent down here, so it’s best to err on the side of caution. If you would like your piece returned, please include appropriate shipping and handling. Otherwise (and this strikes me as a much more mutually beneficial arrangement), I will install it somewhere strange down here and send you a picture of its new icy home.

If you would like to collaborate in other ways, chances are I will be very excited about any ideas you might happen to have… Want me to wear a People's Republic of Cascadia scarf and spread the word about the Northwest secessionist movement? Leave a copy of your book in the library? Send you a picture of something strange and provide you with absolutely no context? Shout your poem out to a seal? I'm probably down.

Please spread the word to interested parties! 

Under the Bed is currently set up as my studio. Here's a picture; it's quite cozy... I spend a lot of time down here.