Seeking Original Short Works of Science Fiction Written-by, Starring, or Intended-for Children and Young Adults
Oraculum Lux, an art-and-science installation showing at the upcoming New York Maker Fair, is looking for original science fiction literature (or poetry) written by, starring, or for children and young adults. These works will be read aloud as part of the installation, September 17th and 18th, at the New York Hall of Science in Queens.
Making a strong showing at last year’s inaugural New York Maker Faire, engineer and project designer Matthieu Boardman claimed Editor’s Choice awards from both Make Magazine and the New York Hall of Science for his exhibit, Liquidus Lux. This year, he returns with a more dramatic piece integrating an interactive audience experience with original light technology.
Selected work will also, with permission of the author, be posted to the Oraculum Lux and One Elephant Writing website. This is a not-for-profit endeavor. All work remains property of the author, though our editors reserve the right to make minor revisions and abridge work as necessary to accommodate the needs of the project and its audience.
Please keep submissions between 2 and 20 min in length. Send original work to oraculum@oconbi.com by September 12th, 2011. All submissions must include your name, age, and the neighborhood or town you call home. We greatly encourage an inclusion of a brief personal statement or biography. An image can be included for biographical or website use.
Please refer to the Oraculum Lux (http://sites.google.com/site/oraculumlux/home) website for further information, questions, or updates. For information on this year’s Maker Fair, go to: http://makerfaire.com/newyork/2011/.
For projects, crafts and ideas, check out the way Maker’s play with instructions for Makers: Projects (http://makeprojects.com/).
Oraculum Lux: Bedtime Stories from Futures Past
The Oracle of Light would like to tell you a story.
Once upon a future, far far from now, the human species has found itself at a crossroads in its evolution. Having long since overcome all the great limitations imposed upon them by their originary geophysics and biopsychology, humanity is left with one final frontier…their own collective imagination. For eons humans had used words to convey their greatest hopes and fears but now, with all hope realized and fear overcome they find they have run out of stories to tell. In search of inspiration, the Oracle has come back, to our time, to relive and retell our futures past and hopefully regain some of the innocence we lost along the way.
Come join us as the Oracle reads science fiction tales written by, about, or for children and young adults for the enjoyment of all…and the salvation of humankind.
What is Oraculum Lux?
Oraculum Lux is an installation designed to evoke the feeling of being read a bedtime story from the future.
Raised upon a dais in a darkened corner of the Viscusi Gallery at the New York Hall of Science, a glowing pedestal supports an Oracle fair to see and breathtaking to behold. Her eyes reflect the shimmering light of fiber optic clothing as smoke pours out from around her feet and spills down onto the floor below. Her voice, transformed by computer effects, will refract and converge as she reads selected works of science fiction written by aspiring science fiction authors.
In between hourly readings the creators or Oraculum Lux will explain the engineering of the installation and discuss the importance science education to the visual and literary arts.
