Upcoming Themes

Each of Terrain.org's issues is based on a predominant theme that relates to the built and natural environments. Contributions are oriented toward that theme, though the connection does not have to be obvious. We encourage interested authors and artists to consider submitting new material specifically for the themes, and material that has already been developed that fits into the themes.  For more information on submitting, view our Submission Guidelines or visit the Submission Manager.

Our next three issue themes are:

• Issue No. 25 : Virtually There
• Issue No. 26 : The Signal in the Noise
• Issue No. 27 : Entropy
   

Issue No. 25 : Virtually There
Spring/Summer 2010

As society and communications become more and more digitized, our ecosystems and landscapes change, too. Or at least our perceptions of them do. What does virtual reality mean for the real places around us, those natural and human-made, and those within? How do science and technology help and hinder efforts to enhance our environments? What, in fact, does environment mean now that technology enables us to experience our world in so many different ways? Through columns, poetry, essays, fiction, articles, reviews, an interview, the ARTerrain gallery, the UnSprawl case study, and more, this issue of Terrain.org traces the boundaries of our circuit-driven world in the pursuit of real places, lasting culture, and essential art—or maybe we can only be virtually there.

Submissions due by February 1, 2010. Online March 31, 2010. [submit online now]

Issue No. 26 : The Signal in the Noise
Fall/Winter 2010

Due in part to technology and consumption, our environments are changing at seemingly exponential rates. Society, spirituality, and community likewise morph. But what are the causes, and just as importantly, how do we counter or at least manage the change and pace? Is there a larger message in all this movement, and if so, how do we decipher it? Is it possible to streamline the dispatch to create a more sustainable future? And what role the messenger? This issue of Terrain.org—through columns, poetry, essays, fiction, articles, reviews, the interview, the ARTerrain gallery, the UnSprawl case study, and more—explores the built and natural constructs of the places around and within us, listening intently to find the signal in the noise.

Submissions due by August 1, 2010. Online September 13, 2010. [submit online now]

Issue No. 27 : Entropy
Spring/Summer 2011

Some days, it seems as if things are falling apart around us. And in fact they are—there is a tendency for all matter and energy in the universe to evolve toward a state of inert uniformity: entropy. But how do our built and natural environments devolve differently? Is chaos a good thing in our environments, in our selves? Can we harness dis/order to build better communities? Or perhaps community and culture rely on change as much as stability? Through columns, poetry, essays, fiction, articles, reviews, an interview, the ARTerrain gallery, the UnSprawl case study, and more, this issue of Terrain.org bucks harmony for heresy, calm for chaos, and direction for disintegration to define the state of the world around us, the constant state of entropy.

Submissions due by February 1, 2011. Online March 14, 2011. [submit online now]

For more information, please contact us.