#ArtLitPhx: Emerge 2016

emergeeeFree and open to the public

Emerge: Artists + Scientists Redesign the Future, is the smartest and most surprising carnival in America that brings together artists, engineers, dancers, scientists, storytellers, athletes, ethicists and technologists to imagine and build futures in which we can thrive. It is a flagship enterprise of Arizona State University – America’s most innovative, according to U.S. News, ahead of Stanford and MIT.

Emerge pioneers a formidable new means of storytelling – “visitations from the future.” These mind-quakes fire in the audience:

• Blown minds – as we explore the consequences, disruptions and opportunities of technological, social and cultural transformation; and
• Penetrating questions – about our astonishing futures; and
• Deep focus on how we can and will build the futures we crave.

Emerge is a year-round enterprise the climax of which on April 29th in metro Phoenix attracts thousands from all over the region and the world.
Emerge is not about the latest gizmos. It’s about how our creations are changing what it means to be human.

Emerge’s theme for 2016 is “The Future of Sport 2040.” What values do we want in sport in the future? Do we want to be more individualized – driven by Fitbits? Or more cooperative? If sport as a technology and community driver was old news even to the ancient Greeks, in 2040 do we want brain-implant mind-melded teams? Or mind-sharing fans?

The goal of Emerge is to build a radically creative, playful and challenging approach to our boundary-obliterating and incisive visitations from the future. And then present them in a massively public way. We raise difficult issues and spark people to think for themselves. We don’t just talk about the future, we build it – through physical and digital installations, engineered constructions, interactive pieces, performance art, scientific extravaganzas, sculpture, video art, games and dance.

For more information, visit the Facebook event.

Call for Submissions: New Madrid

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

New Madrid, journal of contemporary literature, will dedicate its Winter 2013 issue to the theme of winning and losing. Though not limited to basketball or to sports in general in its expression of the theme, this issue will serve as a tribute to the MSU Racer basketball team, which basked in unprecedented national attention in the 2011-12 season due to its status as the last undefeated Division I men’s team, at one point climbing as high as No. 7 in national rankings. The Racers also clinched the Ohio Valley Conference championship and secured their 15th invitation to the NCAA tournament—as a 6th seed, their highest ever. The editors are looking for work in all literary genres that gives evidence of what ABC’s Wide World of Sports used to call “the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat.” Through the theme, the issue will explore the implications of winning and losing, not just in sports but in many other arenas as well (for example, war, business, marriage, board games, real estate, the stock market). Submissions addressing success, failure, luck, chance, etc., in any aspect of the human condition are welcome. All submissions should be of interest to the general reader. Please do not submit scholarly articles. Submissions will be accepted between August 15 and October 15, 2012. Guidelines: www.newmadridjournal.org.