FIGMENT DETROIT ARTIST FAQs
Who can submit a project to FIGMENT?
Anyone can submit a project to FIGMENT! Adults, children, professional artists or those looking to create their first piece! Anyone who can bring their project to FIGMENT by their own means and remove it when the event is over is welcome to submit.
Submit your project!
What can content be?
FIGMENT has historically hosted a wide variety of artistic endeavors… Street theater, costuming, sculpture, inflatable art, dance, performance art, installations, social experiments, mobile art, workshops, games, community building projects, arts & crafts, sound art, bands & DJs, lectures & seminars on themes of participatory art & culture, and anything else you can imagine! Please do remember that FIGMENT is an event for everyone when deciding on subject matter for your project.
Installations, performances, activities, or other projects that can be set up outdoors are welcome, Detroit will not have an indoor area this year. We will not have stages available for performances. You can create your own stage within certain constraints, so please include details in your submission. If you have an idea for FIGMENT and have questions about whether it’s plausible, don’t hesitate to get in touch. No matter what you do, the one requirement is that it somehow engages audience participation.
What are the deadlines?
Key projects will be given placement on a rolling basis. If you have a large project or a project that requires specific placement or infrastructure, please submit it as soon as possible so that we can accommodate it. The final deadline for project submission is July 1, 2011.
Submit your project!
What about funding?
FIGMENT is a community-based event organized and run by volunteers. Its success is dependent on community participation. FIGMENT does NOT provide funding for the production, transportation, or insurance of works to, at, or from the site. FIGMENT encourages artists to apply for outside grants and raise funds for your project within your personal capacity. Please note that no corporate sponsorship (including logos and credit lines) is permitted at the event. In addition, nothing may be sold at the event.
What are the installation and setup hours?
You must have your art installed by 10 am Saturday August 6, 2011 for inspection. Belle Isle opens at 6am. The event is opened to the public at 12 noon on August 6, 2011. Once you have submitted your project, you can work out logistical details with one of our curators. Artists are encouraged to set up and break down their exhibits before and after FIGMENT, instead of during the event itself.
Submit your project!
Power and storage
Please Note: There will NOT be access to power, art cannot be stored overnight and cannot be stored in a building or on any structure on the site. Please take your portable project with you when you leave the site and leave no trace.
When can I remove my project?
Artists can remove their project after the event ends at 6pm. Everything and everyone must be off the island by 10pm on August 6.
Can I DJ at FIGMENT?
If you would like to DJ at FIGMENT, please contact DETcuratorial@figmentproject.org for more information on how to curate a DJ area.
Can I distribute fliers for my band/art project?
Please do not distribute fliers or printed materials at FIGMENT. We are trying to provide as waste-free an event as possible.
Can I sell my CD?
We kindly ask that you do not sell anything – including CDs – at FIGMENT. FIGMENT is an entirely free and non-commercial event in which everyone volunteers their time and effort to participate… the organizers, the artists, the participants. Interactions between people are not mediated by commercial transactions of any kind. Everything at
FIGMENT is free, and there is no advertising, nothing for sale, and no one insisting that you have to give a donation to participate. We understand that many of you make your livelihoods by selling your art and we support you – FIGMENT is just not the time or place.
Can I collect email addresses for my mailing list?
Yes, you may collect addresses, but we ask that you manage the list and make it clear to participants that they are signing up for your list and not the FIGMENT list. Please do not leave unattended clipboards around the site; keep the list with you so that you can get participants excited about your project.
Can I bring my car?
Cars are allowed on Belle Isle though we ask that artists unload their art and park their cars away from the event so visitors to FIGMENT may use the closest parking spaces.
There are some supplies that I need. Can I get them from FIGMENT?
FIGMENT promotes radical self-reliance, so please make every effort to bring all the supplies that you need for your project. As an all volunteer event, we give our time and passion to the event, but it’s a bit more challenging to buy things. FIGMENT can help direct you to free, donated and low cost resources from which to source materials. Please
get in touch with us for more information: DETcuratorial@figmentproject.org.
What if I did not submit a project to FIGMENT but I still want to bring it?
Our allotted space is limited this year for FIGMENT Detroit. Projects that have not been through the submission process will not be on our map or schedule, but FIGMENT is about serendipity and discovery so that’s quite all right. Unregistered projects will not have access to power, cannot be stored overnight and cannot be installed in a building or on any structure on the site. Please take your portable project with you when you leave the site and leave no trace.
When is FIGMENT?
FIGMENT is Saturday, August 6, 2011 from 12 noon until 6pm. The island closes at 10pm.
How do I get there?
FIGMENT is on Belle Isle. Once there we will be just north of the Children’s Park by Children’s Way between Central Avenue and Loiter Way. Click here for a map of the area, or go to our Getting There page.
Can I put stakes down or make holes in the ground?
If you must put stakes in the ground, they can only be 6 inches deep. Please anchor your art with heavy objects if at all possible. Be sure to communicate with your curatorial contact if staking is essential to your project. You may not dig holes.
Security
The Belle Isle Police will provide basic security but you are ultimately responsible for your art’s specific security.
Can I bring tables and chairs?
Yes. Tables/chairs/shade tents/grills/gargantuan coolers/ couches/kiddie pools are strongly encouraged.
Can we hang anything from a tree (e.g. a sign, art, string)?
No. Belle Isle Park is a protected natural area.
Can I bring compressed gas to the site?
No.
Power and water
There will be no publicly available sources of power or water and generators are not allowed.
Animals
Animals are allowed on the island but you are expected to clean up after your animal and leave no trace.
Alcohol
Alcohol is not allowed on the island.
