"We Should Be Allowed to Think" Open Call for Digital Art / Writing

"We Should be Allowed to Think" is the first online exhibition from the relaunch of Peripheral Forms (PF), a rhizomatic container for digital art and preservation. This exhibition is part of Fall of Freedom, an urgent call to the arts community to unite in defiance of authoritarian forces.

The Call
We are seeking new and existing work from artists, writers, thinkers, and creators across the globe that grapples with how cognition can be captured, limited, and suppressed by authoritarian and proto-authoritarian forces—from state surveillance and police infrastructure to algorithmic manipulation, media outlets, and attention-capture by digital platforms.

The first fascist to resist is always the one that's inside your head, placed there by a culture of surveillance and control.

This exhibition will build a body of work that speaks to both this urgent moment and the historical resonances that echo through it. We are looking for pieces that collectively articulate resistance to cognitive capture and reclaim space for autonomous thinking.
What We're Looking For

We welcome submissions across all formats and mediums:

Visual & multimedia: photography, video, digital art, glitch/net art, GIFs, interactive work
Textual & conceptual: essays (theoretical or personal), poetry, screeds, manifestos, marginalia
Social & participatory: performances (online or otherwise), conversations, workshops, community-building projects
Unexpected forms: memes, desktop backgrounds, browser extensions, lectures, scores, audio work, anything that doesn't fit neat categories

All submissions must engage critically with themes of cognitive freedom, surveillance, resistance, and/or authoritarian control.

Submission Details
Submission Window: November 1–12, 2025 (11:59 PM Eastern Time)
Selected artists notified: By November 16, 2025
Exhibition launch: November 21, 2025 on peripheralforms.com
Who can submit: Anyone, anywhere, globally. Open to artists at all stages of practice.
Previous publication/exhibition: Both new work and previously exhibited/published pieces are welcome.

Selection & Presentation
Curator Justice Alexander Hager will select work based on conceptual resonance, critical depth, and how pieces collectively speak to this moment. Selected artists will be invited to collaborate on how their work is presented online, ensuring accessibility and impact for audiences.

You retain full copyright to your work. Selected pieces will be displayed as part of the online exhibition on peripheralforms.com and may be featured on social media with artist credit (sharing preferences collected during submission).

How to Submit
Complete the submission form at https://peripheralforms.com. Include:

Artist/creator statement or bio
Description of your work and its relevance to the call
Work files, links, or documentation
Technical requirements or special presentation needs

About Peripheral Forms
Peripheral forms is a platform for digital art preservation and contemporary curation. The project preserves 11 historical interactive exhibitions while serving as an active space for new work that challenges conventional thinking and explores themes of cognitive autonomy, digital culture, and resistance. This is the first active exhibition as part of the platform's relaunch.

About Fall of Freedom
Fall of Freedom is a nationwide movement of artists and cultural spaces united in artistic resistance and defiance. November 21–22, 2025. falloffreedom.com