for Visual Music Artists, Writers, and Venues

Fresh Minds Festival deadline August 1

Fourth Annual Fresh Minds Festival

http://freshminds.tamu.edu

Texas A&M University

Submissions due: August 1, 2015. Online submission

Performance: September or October 2016 (the following school year). Watch http://freshminds.tamu.edu for the finalized date.

Texas A&M University invites fixed media works of visual music or other non-narrative fine art animation, video, or film in which the sound/music and visuals play equally important roles in the work, for a presentation on the Texas A&M University campus called the Fresh Minds Festival. The event will be mass curated by hundreds of TAMU students learning the elements of visual and musical design with the goal of presenting a program of works that are engaging and rewarding to curious newcomer audiences. This is an event filling the gap between “for experts only” and “people’s choice” type events. Each year, several hundred students co-curate the festival. Each year’s evaluation cycle is launched with the screening of the previous year’s finalists.

A faculty panel will use the students’ evaluations of submitted works to shape a program. Creators of selected works are encouraged but not required to attend the event. Multiple entries will be accepted. There is no entry fee.

Due to the large number of students participating in the selection process, works will reviewed in stereo on student-owned equipment, delivered via internet links for evaluation. Works selected for the event will be presented in full quality in surround sound, spatialized live by TAMU students.

Submissions due August 1, 2015. Finalists will be notified by June 1, 2016 (the evaluation period includes the fall and spring semesters to maximize student participation). The concert presentation will be in fall 2016 to kick off the next evaluation cycle. Watch http://freshminds.tamu.edu for the finalized date.

Eligibility: All artists are encouraged to submit work, including professionals and students, except for artists currently employed or enrolled at TAMU, works created while employed or enrolled at TAMU, or works screened in previous Fresh Minds events. Resubmissions of works that were submitted and even screened in previous years but were not awarded prizes are encouraged. Live works and installations that can also stand on their own as fixed audiovisual media are welcome; they will be evaluated on their merit as fixed media concert works, but we will present the live or installation version if feasible. The faculty panel reserves the right not to give an award if no submissions are deemed suitable.

Duration: 4–12 minutes

Prizes and funding for visiting artist travel: TBA

Online submissions. Complete the form linked below to submit a URL to your video work accessible via the world wide web. You must fully own or have explicit permission to use all materials (sounds, images, text, etc.) in the work you submit in order for your work to be considered. Content deemed inappropriate for this venue will be declined. The video player at the URL you provide must be immediately visible at this link, without requiring logins or searching a list of videos. We recommend that you use a standardized video site like YouTube or Vimeo. You may make your video “unlisted” or protect it with a passcode if desired. Avoid less common formats, as technical issues may impede our curators’ ability to evaluate your submission. If your work is selected for performance, you must deliver a full quality video file by August 1, 2016.

Online submission at http://freshminds.tamu.edu

Direct inquiries to: freshminds at tamu.edu