Supernova Digital Motion Art Festival

SUPERNOVA DIGITAL MOTION-ART FESTIVAL

- Multiple LED screens presenting content continuously in downtown Denver + auxiliary screen hosts throughout the community.
- Competitions featuring $3,500 in total prize money.
- Jeron Braxton to serve as 2019 Visiting Guest Artist and Juror.
- Up to $8,500 in artist stipends for works selected into the festival (new for 2019).
- Additional digital motion art activations and new-media installations.
- Free for the public.

Supernova is the only major festival to focus solely on the latest advances in digital animation and motion-based art, presented free to the public on large-scale LED screens in the heart of Denver, Colorado. The festival returns for the fourth consecutive year to the Denver Theatre District in 2019, with exciting updates for festival programming and progressive community collaborations.

Supernova boasts an expansive lineup of outdoor screens, with primary programs and the competition showcase presented simultaneously on a prominent wide-screen LED at the corner of 14th and Champa, a second public screen located on the 16th and Champa Pedestrian Mall at 16th and Champa, as well as a temporary LED screen installed within the Denver Performing Arts Complex grand open-air Galleria, complete with seating and an outdoor bar. Additional animations are presented on a series of 3 well-placed Satellite screens throughout the day, and an exciting split-surface screen will host Supernova’s innovative Student Animation Competition.

And new for 2019, Supernova plans to “Go Viral” with the support of select screen hosts in the Denver community displaying Supernova content to further widen the public’s interaction with Digital Motion-Art. Discussions are also underway for Supernova's first out-of-state LED collaboration, details to be announced once plans have been finalized, hopefully soon.

Supernova is now accepting submissions for our multi-tiered program in 2019. The following options are important to consider when submitting your work:

SUPERNOVA PREMIER COMPETITION

Supernova will accept up to 25 works for an expanded competition program, to be shown on three premier public screens with sound, and select interior locations within Denver. Works considered for the annual competition can be within any genre with preference towards advanced artist-driven works. Animations must be suitable for public viewing, and should be between 3 - 8 minutes in length, though works of longer duration will be considered. Priority will be given to works produced in 2018/2019 or made specifically for Supernova 2019.

Accepted entrants have the choice of receiving $150 in recognition of their work being juried into the competition or $250 as a travel stipend to come join us in Denver and participate in the festival.

Visit supernovadenver.com/2019 for views of the competition screens

SUPERNOVA STUDENT COMPETITION

Supernova is accepting works by students currently attending University level programs from anywhere in the world for the new Student Digital Animation Competition, taking place on an exclusive split-surface wide-format LED Screen with sound located on the 16th Street Pedestrian Mall in downtown Denver. The focus within the student competition is experimentation and animations that show attention to learning craft and working within specific boundaries. Works must be at least 30 seconds in length and no longer than 90 seconds, must be suitable for public viewing, and must conform to the specifications and dynamics of the screen format (420 pixels high x 1720 pixels wide).

All accepted entries will be shown multiple times throughout the day of Supernova, with approximately twenty being singled out for a special evening screening eligible for a jurors award of $500. Supernova encourages Students to have their schools or programs support the submission fee for their work. The Festival will strive to show all works submitted that meet the screen format requirements within capabilities.

View samples from the 2018 Supernova Colorado Student Competition at https://vimeo.com/289987305

SUPERNOVA CURATED PROGRAMS

Three distinct hour-long programs will be curated for Supernova 2019. Works may be of any length or genre and will screen with sound. Final programming will be based on common themes or specific interests that emerge from the full field of works submitted. Works with adult/mature themes will also be considered for an indoor program hosted by a community partner.

All works selected for these programs will receive $50 as a participation fee.

SATELLITE SCREENS

Supernova employs three additional public LED screens of a non-standard format situated in the Denver Theatre District throughout the day for looping animations presented without sound. Artists may submit works for consideration to be shown if specifically created or modified to fit the format of a particular screen. The Satellite screens are well suited to visually entrancing experimental or ambient works that can sustain viewers attention without necessarily requiring a narrative. Supernova will select approximately 2-6 works in each format, with each selected entry receiving a $150 participation stipend. Preference will be given to works formatted to the specific screen parameters as noted:

Satellite Screen No. 1 - 360 pixels high x 456 pixels wide.
Satellite Screen No. 2 - 256 pixels high x 880 pixels wide.
Satellite Screen No. 3 - 216 pixels high x 572 pixels wide.

Visit supernovadenver.com/2019 for select views of the auxiliary screens.

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Supernova utilizes a robust network developed over seven years of unique programming by host Denver Digerati that has brought advances in digital animation and motion art to a network of public LED screens situated in Denver’s downtown core as a new public art viewing experience. The program promotes the dynamic, rapidly advancing impact technology is having in art throughout the world today in an exciting and radically innovative context. Supernova is the future of public art.

Supernova financial partners include the Denver Theatre District, Arts and Venues Denver and Bonfils-Stanton Foundation. Additional Supernova sponsors for 2018 included Meow Wolf, Understudy, CU Denver CAM, Museum of Outdoor Arts, Colorado Office of Film Television & Media, Orange Barrel Media, Branded Cities, and Weeden Law. Community affiliations and collaborations in 2018 included MCA Denver, Redline, Denver Film Society, CU Boulder Sonic Arts, Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design, NXT STG Collaborative, Emmanuel Gallery at CU Denver, Cricket Cinema and Crush Walls. SUPERNOVA also supported the summer-long exhibition “Pixelated” at Denver Botanic Gardens.

2019 sponsor and screen host updates will be made throughout the spring and summer on supernovadenver.com

Keep informed about updates to the festival via Denver Digerati on Facebook or sign up for our newsletter at denverdigerati.com

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Go even deeper by viewing our project history on vimeo at:
https://vimeo.com/denverdigerati

View our 32 minute 2018 documentary collage, representing the full scope of Supernova in 2018:

https://vimeo.com/296963449