can you see me? (can you see me now?)
Just one look, that's all it took*
Our 2026 open call, can you see me now?, centers “the gaze” with works that consider seeing from points poetic to political and their intersections.
In Walid Ra’ad’s Miraculous Beginnings part two, (one part of his three part video, Dead Weight of a Quarrel Hangs), the operator of a government surveillance camera (#18) assigned to monitor human activities on the seaside promenade in Beirut, turns his camera away from the designated targets every day towards the setting sun. A simple shift of view becomes a transgressive gesture and perhaps the only logical response to an illogical situation. Where will we look as the sun sets?
With the introduction in the 18th century of the panoramic picture to the West, a totalizing image of the natural and built world became a reality. Although “an all encompassing view” remains a physical impossibility for the human eye, the possibility of being all seeing and all knowing is at our fingertips with drones and a smartphone - surveillance as entertainment.
What are the destructive / captivating powers of looking? Ask Lot’s wife, Eurydice, Medusa, or James Stewart in Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window.
Is the power of looking and being looked at equal? Behold! It’s there in the word: to hold, to possess, to claim and control. Just one look. What are we taking?
“There are times in life when the question of knowing if one can think differently than one thinks, and perceive differently than one sees, is absolutely necessary if one is to go on looking and reflecting at all.”
Michel Foucault, The Use of Pleasure. Translated from the French by Robert Hurley.
*Just One Look, music and lyrics by Doris Troy and Gregory Carroll - recorded by Doris Troy in 1963.
Guidelines:
- All genres and styles are welcome
- Artists may submit up to two entries
- Entries must be a link - Vimeo, Youtube or to a direct section on your website.
- Entries must be no more than 3 minutes in length, though the total running time of the work may be up to 20 minutes.
- If applicable, please submit a link with the full work in addition to the excerpt, which we will watch if interested in your entry.
- Works not in English must have subtitles
- $15 entry fee submitted to Venmo account: @snakehousevt. We will send confirmation upon receipt of your entry and fee.
- International applicants please contact singlechannelvt AT gmail.com for alternative payment methods.
- DEADLINE for submission & entry fee is January 24, 2026 at 11:59pm ET
- Festival Dates and Locations:
- March 27, 2026 in Burlington, VT
- April 21, 2026 in Bethel, ME
If accepted, artists will be asked to submit a CV, short bio and artist statement.
Questions? Please contact: singlechannelvt AT gmail.com
Snake House VT is an artist-run collaborative based in Vermont dedicated to supporting underrepresented artists through exhibitions, performances, screenings, and other events and projects.
Single Channel is a Snake House project that explores the moving image and time based media through a series of ongoing collaborative viewings and discussions. Artist curated screenings are presented throughout the year highlighting the history, practitioners, and genres of the moving image and time based media. Our thematic video festival is held annually.