ֿCaptive Portal Open Call

Deadline: Nov. 19, 2016

The Center for Contemporary Art Tel-Aviv is looking for artists and other creatives to produce new works for the ongoing series, “Captive Portal,” a new, site-specific curatorial platform dedicated to the presentation of new work by local and international artists. “Captive Portal” is a digital “fifth wall,” like a gallery wall, that is accessed by visitors on their mobile wireless devices during their visit to the CCA, where the Wi-Fi platform is available throughout the building.

We constantly navigate Wi-Fi spaces in our daily lives, and connect with them through “captive portals” that are usually used for commercial advertising by large corporations, but it can also serve as an invisible “canvas.” The CCA takes advantage of the constant obsessive search for WiFi, by both humans and cellular machines, to “captivate” or trap audiences into viewing a temporary, site-specific work of art before continuing to surf the net or use their mobile device. The project manipulates the very moment when visitors disconnect from the gallery space and enter an immaterial “space” rife with possibility.

Creative Guidelines
Works for “Captive Portal” should be original commissions designed specifically for this unique digital platform. We do not show work that was presented previously or in a different context. Since this is an Internet-based and location-specific project, we prefer to avoid videos and encourage artists to propose works that are about the medium of Wi-Fi in some way.

A small stipend of 500 NIS is provided as an artist fee and can also be used to pay programmers if needed. The artist should expect to be available (in person or remotely) during the install period for troubleshooting and direction.

Technical Guidelines
“Captive Portal” uses software that runs on the router and allows the “splash page” activity, i.e. displaying an HTML file of our choosing when the user connects, before she passes to the Web. It is called nodogsplash, and our “index.html” is actually named splash.html. The name of the project, “Captive Portal,” comes from this type of software that “kidnaps” the user before opening for her the gate to the Web itself.

To create this captive portal, you must authenticate with a button via following code, which must be placed within the body of splash.html:

This tells nodogplash that the user is “authenticated” and therefore is allowed to continue to the Web. This trick should work for many different projects. Keep in mind a “click” on the button must be simulated once the work terminates, in order for nodogsplash to send the user off to the Web, in this case, to the CCA website. The button can be hidden using CSS, but it must be present in the HTML of splash.html.

For example, in a work we exhibited by Brain House, we display three screens separated by exact intervals, and then triggered a button click after the last one with a JavaScript function. In the work we exhibited by Liat Berdugo, we displayed a single screen, and triggered a button click via JavaScript after motion detection.

In order to install the work on the CCA’s router (default), it should be no more than 600-700KB total. With works bigger than this, we will need a different router, which might lead to some changes in the code.

Descriptions of previous works in the “Captive Portal” series:
Liat Berdugo
http://history.cca.org.il/captive-portal-sweat-net/
Brian House
http://history.cca.org.il/captive-portal-what-does-the-internet-sound-like/
Missdata (Tsila Hassine)
http://history.cca.org.il/captive-portal-a-new-and-virtual-platform/

About the CCA
The Center for Contemporary Art is Israel’s foremost institution for the commissioning and presentation of experimental contemporary art, and as such is a vibrant place of inspiration, provocation, and reflection. Situated in the heart of Tel Aviv, the CCA is a registered nonprofit organization that produces four to six unique large-scale exhibitions annually, often focusing on time-based or site-specific practices by outstanding local and international artists. Along with exhibitions, the CCA organizes a wide variety of public programming, including panels, screenings, artist talks, and performances that challenge perceived notions and stimulate debate, experimentation, and engagement.

Application
Please email a single-page PDF in English or Hebrew with the following information to info@history.cca.org.il.
Please put CAPTIVE PORTAL AND YOUR NAME AS THE SUBJECT LINE.

Your application should include:
Name
Location
Email Address
Telephone Number
Link to your website or to download a portfolio (Dropbox or GoogleDrive)
Link to your CV (online or download) if it’s not in your portfolio
Description of your proposal in up to 500 words (English or Hebrew)
Link to download any sketches and other visual materials (optional)