Interactive Drawing Competition / Executed first time in Berlin / 2009 – still running

In Berlin, Summer 2009, we announced our first intergalactic drawing contest with two simple instructions:

1. draw an alien

2. the most realistic one wins

The idea behind this contest is to challenge people to shed preconceived notions and explore this apparent paradox. Can “realistic” and “alien-ness” co-exist?

All ages were invited to participate. Since the original launch in Berlin, the contest, in true intergalactic fashion, has traveled to three cities, two continents, and one prominent gallery in Muenster, Germany, the DST Gallery. Next stop: the famous Mars Modern.

At this stage, more than 500 entries have been submitted. We plan to continue collecting entries on an ongoing basis to explore this idea transculturally. Of course, no one has the final authority on what an alien looks like. The contest is intentionally absurd. We implicitly suggest discarding mental judgement and trusting imagination instead.

At a yet undetermined date, the extraterrestrial jury will declare the contest over, stage a final exhibition and pick a winner. We haven’t seen the other entries yet but have received assurances that Earthlings are doing quite well. Keep up the good work!