About the Project

'Thinking Through Extinction' explores how mass extinction is encountered in public spaces. From fossil displays to taxidermy, there is a long history of representation of individual species extinctions in museums. Based at the University of Leeds, and in partnership with Corridor8 and Manchester Museum, the project investigates what people think, imagine, and believe about extinction, focusing in particular on how museums and galleries shape such engagements.

Liverpool-based artist Laurence Payot has been commissioned to create new work that she is currently developing with a group of creative collaborators. A series of online workshops will be held in June and July, inviting members of the public from a range of demographics. Based on these and other conversations, final works will be shown online and at Manchester Museum, which in addition to its extensive collections, currently explores closely related themes via its exhibitions 'Heritage Futures' and 'Beauty and the Beasts'. There will be a live public or digital launch planned for October 2020.

What You Will Do

The selected writer will take part in at least four artist-led online workshops in June/ July and attend online meetings with collaborating artists, project leads, editors and designers between June and September 2020. They will write a 2,500-3,000-word responsive piece that could take a number of forms (proposals will be considered for creative and experimental, as well as essay-style approaches), which will then be edited in conversation with Corridor8 and project partners. The writer will also be invited to feed into a collaborative design process. 

Please note: Due to Covid-19, it is likely that the writing residency will take place entirely online, with the possible exception of a public launch.

Fee

£2000 inclusive (10 days @ £200/day)

Selection Process

Applicants must be UK based and can be at any stage of career (having published at least once) but must have a genuine interest in collaboration and be open to working with editors to evolve their writing. A writer will be selected on the basis of the strength of their proposal (up to 250 words), suitability of experience (up to 250 words) and quality of writing, evidenced by a sample of published work up to 1,000 words (can be an excerpt). They will also be asked to upload a short CV. The selection panel comprises Stefan Skrimshire and Dominic O’Key (University of Leeds), Lara Eggleton (Corridor8) and artist Laurence Payot. We will aim to notify applicants within two weeks of the deadline.

More information:

https://thinkingthroughextinction.wordpress.com

http://www.laurencepayot.com

https://www.museum.manchester.ac.uk

https://corridor8.co.uk

Image: Laurence Payot, ‘Untitled', 2020. Courtesy of the Artist.