What started out as an offhand remark between two friends gave birth to the wondrous entity that is MonkeyMask. Our small project runs on the juice of all your arty productions. An alternative space for anyone remotely enthused by creation, YOU are the blood that surge through our cyber-veins. At MonkeyMask, we don’t just want to embrace alternative talent: we want to coddle it, feed it, and buy pretty dresses for it. We want to explore, experience and evolve the very definition of “art”.
We don’t aim to please; we aim to express.
MonkeyMask welcomes all forms of original visual and literary artwork: Fictional scripts, short stories, photography, sketches, designs, illustrations, poetry – maybe travel experiences, personal anecdotes, nude oil paintings, inter-species interviews or letters to the cosmic void.
If you consider it honest art, then we consider it precious.
What we want is art that comes from the – wait for it, this will blow your mind – he(art)! So dust off that old sketchbook or notebook that was never as appreciated as it should have been. Take away the needless over-scrutiny that comes with creation. And just do it. Hey, it worked for Nike.
Each issue will come with a prompt – be it an image, a video, a quote or just one aptly-selected word – and you have the liberty to choose whether you’d like to work within this prompt or not. Interpret it and express yourself however you wish. Selection will not be based on whether you adhere to the prompt. You’ll then have 10 days to create, prune and submit your art. Submissions will be completely anonymous, even between us Monkey Masters (or what the hoi polloi call ‘Editors’). This makes it a fabulous way for artists to break out of their usual style, and experiment with something new without pre-conceived assumptions about their personal approaches.
Our opening issue, Issue Zero, is theme-less - so send us whatever you think the world needs to see.
Read more about submission guidelines here.
Happy creating!
WTF is MonkeyMask?
Behold a haiku by Basho:
Every New Year Day -
again the monkey wears
a monkey mask.
Year after year
On the monkey's face,
A monkey's mask.
We don’t know about you, but we’re sick of veneers. In a world where we’re constantly instructed to self-censor, silence ourselves, and swallow the taboo notions, raw self-expression is hard to come by. Modern society thrives on the absurdity of apathy, and anyone with the human conditions of curiosity, passion and diversity is a stray by default.
MonkeyMask is our way of saying ‘No’ to the ugly faces of social expectations, inherent boundaries, and the corporate culture. We’re protesting the collective masquerade, the clones marching to the same beat of the drum. We want miscellany, not conformity.
Also, MonkeyMask had a nice ring to it.
Will I be credited for my work?
All submissions are anonymous. We want to shatter inhibitions by letting our contributors explore their own talents, push makeshift boundaries until there are none and dabble in a medium they are wary of, or unfamiliar with. Go ahead and get out of your comfort zone. It’s not like you have anything to lose.
How will I know that my work will be protected?
Your work will be copyrighted by MonkeyMask.org – and we promise not to use it for commercial gain. So you just have to trust us.
Will I definitely be published?
Your submission may not necessarily be published for the issue you intended to be featured on, but we take all your efforts seriously. Art is, as it’s often said, subjective at best, and we encourage you to keep on submitting!
What’s with the ant?
Rimeevaban Kublestiskenstein the Third, or Doug, as he likes to be known, was born on the banks of Lake Maracaibo in northern Venezuela, where he lived a life of poverty and hardship for many months. The fire ant led a noble life, and harmed no-one despite the stinging stigma of his species, one that he has tried, and many a-time, failed, to extricate himself from. Still, despite the relentless discouragement he received from his colony and species, Doug made no secret of his idealistic dreams of a better world and future for them all.
One day, while traipsing the grounds of a large tree root in search of sustenance, Doug chanced upon what he later learns to be a magical sapling from a distant galaxy, which he proceeded to munch on gaily. But what happened next transcended the gastronomically satisfying effect he expected: instead, Doug was catapulted straight into outer-space and into the cosmic void, where he began revolving in a blinding spiral of joy and hope and high-speed Internet. A celestial dance like no other.
Doug has been happy since. But he decided that he still owed Earth the remarkable dreams he had for it. And so, he called upon the Monkey Masters to form what we now know as MonkeyMask.org – an art space that hopes to bring together all the giddy energy of human creation into one Web-domain of pure, unadulterated awesome. Somewhere out there, Doug is appreciating all of your wonderful artwork. Somewhere out there... Doug the fire ant is smiling...
You will find the occasional blog post on the upcoming MonkeyMask blog written by our favourite fire ant. Doug now lives with his golden retriever Susie, and enjoys long walks on the moon.
