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In Southwest Contemporary Volume 14, we will explore many questions about being, or feeling, alien.
Alienness is often felt intimately, in the body and in daily life—perhaps as estrangement from the self or others, or as a celebration of exquisite difference. What is it like to be an “outsider” or “other”? How does it feel to wholly embrace one’s uniqueness? What does it mean to be an invader, or invaded upon? What’s it like to be in a body that doesn’t belong—or finds a way home?
The concept of “the alien” has also served to divide the body politic. The Southwest border is an epicenter of one such narrative shaping culture, where authorities mark humans as “aliens”—as a class of legal and political “others,” subject to a dominant band of alien settlers and occupiers. But migration into unknown realms can also be transcendent—a process filled with curiosity, discovery, and unexpected connection.
The Southwest has long been a hotspot for alien activity. Star people and sky-beings animate Zuni, Hopi, and other oral traditions stretching back millennia. There are the energy “vortexes” in Sedona and the telescopes of the Very Large Array. Reported UFO encounters at Roswell and Area 51 have shaped the culture around government conspiracies. Now, actual portals to space have opened in the Southwest, commanded by billionaire founders. As reality starts to resemble science fiction, the genre’s fixations on escapism and encountering “the other” become mirrors on ourselves.
We encourage you to consider this theme in an expansive way. We want to discover artists who bring us into contact with other worlds and realities, who make the unknown known. We welcome artists in the Southwest whose work, in any medium, celebrates difference, considers belonging, or combats loneliness. Help us understand your place in the region—and the cosmos.
We welcome artists engaging themes such as:
Insider versus outsider, the “other”
Curiosity, discovery, and connection with the unknown
Social alienation and loneliness
Immigration and migration
Body dysmorphia and positivity
Post-humanism, transhumanism, and hybridity
Technological alienation or cyborgism; artificial intelligence/alien intelligence
Alienation from nature in the context of neo/post/modernism
The sublime; alien or otherworldly landscapes
Alien or invasive species; resilience and survival in unknown realms
Abduction, disembodied experience
Science fiction, fantasy
Alien encounters and narratives
Southwest portals to space, such as SpaceX
Conspiracies, UFOs, and government files; hoaxes and misinterpretation
Alien cosplay, subcultures, and other pop culture phenomena
Free Info Session:
To learn more about this open call for artists, the theme, and the submission/jurying process, attend a virtual info session and Q+A with the Southwest Contemporary editorial team on Wednesday, April 29, 1-2 pm MDT.