A Sign in Space

This Contest Has Ended. See the Award Announcement Here!

Join us for a Creative Writing and Visual Arts Contest!

Humans have long wondered whether there might be other forms of intelligent life in the Universe.  Since the 1960s, astronomers have been looking for radio signals that might be coming from extraterrestrial civilizations. What would it be like if we found one of these signals? Media artist Daniela de Paulis asks us to imagine this with her latest project,  A Sign in Space.  As we prepare to host a live performance for this project here at the Green Bank Observatory in May, we invite you to join us in a creative writing and visual arts contest to help us imagine what it would be like if we received an extraterrestrial message.

Please choose one of the following prompts:

What would it mean if we discovered we weren’t the only ones in the Universe? How would it change the way we see ourselves as humans?  

OR

To intelligent lifeforms who live in a civilization on another planet, you would be the extraterrestrial. With that in mind, what would you want to share with them?  

Once you have chosen a prompt, please respond with EITHER:

A Creative Writing Submission

(500 words or less)

Write an essay, poem, or short story.  Your submission can be submitted as text in the google form or as a pdf attachment if you wish to preserve formatting.  

A Visual Arts Submission

(Still images only)

Your artwork can use any medium or take any form you like, but you must be able to submit a representation of your work as a single image (e.g. scanned artwork, a photograph, or a collage of photos laid out on a single page are all fine.)  All images will be printed on 11×17” paper for display and judging.   JPEG, TIFF, or PDF files preferred.

Submit your entry at: https://tinyurl.com/SignInSpacePublic.

Deadline Extended! Submissions received by Friday, May 5th, at 12:00 PM EDT (noon) will be displayed during the Astrobiology Workshop at the Green Bank Science Center and will receive a small advantage in the judging process. Additional submissions will be accepted through Monday, May 15th, at 9 AM EDT.

PRIZE CATEGORIES 

Prizes will be awarded separately for the creative writing and visual arts contests.  

  • Astronomer’s Choice Award – $100 for the submission that ranks highest in all 3 categories.
  • Top Flight Finalists – $50
  • Honorable Mentions will be displayed in the Green Bank Science Center. 

Employees of AUI/NRAO/GBO are not eligible to receive prize money.

Judging 

  1. Green Bank Observatory will appoint a panel of judges from a range of disciplines to select the winning visuals.
  2. Submissions will be judged according to judging criteria below.
  3. Please consider including a brief description to provide context for visual arts submissions. For either written or visual arts submissions, any use of AI must be clearly specified in your description.
  4. Where there is reasonable doubt about whether a visual meets the entry criteria of the competition, the organizers reserve the right to disqualify the visual.  Wherever possible, the entrant(s) will be given the opportunity to answer queries from the judges before a final decision on disqualification is made.

Submissions will be judged based on the following criteria: 

  • Aesthetics: is the submission well written or visually well crafted?  
  • Originality: does the submission offer a unique or unusual perspective? 
  • Impact: does it provoke strong reaction from readers/viewers or inspire questions and conversation? 

Winners will be announced at the Green Bank Science Center as part of the kickoff performance for A Sign in Space on Wednesday, May 24th.  Details to come!  Learn more about the project at https://asignin.space

Copyright and use of images 

In consideration of your entry to this context being accepted, you grant to Green Bank Observatory and AUI the unconditional right to let us distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation (CC BY Creative Commons License). You represent and warrant that you are the exclusive holder of any and all rights to the work and that no other individual or entity may claim any rights, title, and/or interest in the work. You additionally warrant that you have all necessary rights required to grant GBO/AUI the unconditional and unlimited use and exploitation of the work. You also warrant that you have sufficient permission of any recognizable persons appearing in the image to be able to grant rights to GBO/AUI.

Release

By participating, you release GBO, AUI, contest judges and staff members, their parent companies, affiliates, subsidiaries and their agents, respective officers, directors, employees, volunteers, and agents from any and all liability or responsibility for any claim arising in connection with participation in the Contest or any prize awarded.

Acceptance

By submission of the work to the Contest, you agree and accept all Contest terms and conditions, and the Release. By entering, you agree to be bound by these Contest rules and procedures, the terms and conditions on use of images, and the decisions of the sponsors and judges, which are final and binding on all matters. This Contest is void where prohibited and is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws.