NIME 2024: Call For Art Installations

NIME 2024 invites submission of proposals that showcase New Interfaces for Musical Expression in performance and composition. We look forward to receiving submissions that expand and reshape our understanding of NIME in the conceptualization, performance, and perception of music.

We invite submissions of art installations on new interfaces for musical expression. We encourage authors to consider this year's conference theme. NIME 2024 will provide several locations that can be used to exhibit new music installation works. See at the bottom for more details.

Installation Review Process:

Contributors should meet these basic criteria of anonymization:

• Avoid any trace of the artists’ names and affiliations in the written material.
• Avoid any trace of the artists’ names and affiliations in links and other references to outside material.
• Identity and affiliations of the performer(s) should not be mentioned in the title, description or opening/closing credits of the submitted media.

The review process is as follows:

All installation submissions will be subjected to a rigorous double-blind peer review process by an international committee of experts. All of the submitted installations should be works showcasing new NIMEs, new NIME technology, new ways of interacting with NIMEs etcetera.Each submission will be evaluated according to the following criteria: novelty in interaction, installation quality, appropriateness of topic, importance, ethical standards and presentation. There are no limitations or requirements concerning style. Artists should also familiarize themselves with the NIME statements on diversity and environmental issues.

1. Each submission will be assigned to, at least, 3 reviewers for independent evaluation.
2. The music chairs will make the final decision on acceptance, also taking feasibility into account, and will inform the authors of their decision along with the reviewers’ comments.

Please note this review process is double-blind, meaning reviewers remain anonymous to the authors and vice-versa. It is expected that authors respect the NIME Ethical guidelines for NIME publications.

If you’d like to register as a NIME reviewer (or are unsure if you’re already a reviewer), please register as a reviewer using this form.

Submission guide:

In order to present an installation for NIME 2024, please submit a proposal in the form of a PDF document containing the following information:

• The title of the work
• Names of contributing artists
• A clear description of the proposed installation with photos, schematics diagram that could provide reviewers with a sense of its motivation and proposed realization.
• A link to audio-visual documentation (if available). The documentation link should use an unrestricted streaming service, such as SoundCloud, Bilibili, or YouTube.
• Space requirements: This should include size and space requirements to display your work. Please indicate whether the work would be more suitable for a university environment (hallways, staircases and indoor and outdoor plazas), gallery, public space or other venue. For networked & web-based work, please include the technical information and system requirements.
• Floor Plan & Logistical requirement: This should indicate requirements for your installation, including how much time it requires to set up, diagrams for space utilization, networked needs, etc.
• Feasibility: Provide evidence of the feasibility of the installation. Include documentation and list of previous installations of the submitted or related work that demonstrate the submitter’s capacity to implement the proposal.
• Equipment Requirements: Clearly indicate what you will bring and what you would require the conference organizers to provide.

If an installation submission is selected for exhibition at NIME, proposing artists are expected to be available to exhibit their work during the whole conference starting with the workshop day (September 3).
Please contact the general chairs with any questions regarding the suitability of a potential NIME performance submission with regard to the specific Utrecht venue situation.

NIME uses the CHI template for submissions. You can edit it using LaTeX, or as a Word document. Templates for both LaTeX and Word can be found here.
We recommend using a service like Overleaf to edit and complete your submission. You can use the music template for installations as well.

Installation Review Process:

1. Export and download your Latex document or Word document as a PDF. Note that your submission must be anonymised!
2. If you don’t already have an account for NIME’s conference management system, create one.
3. Create a submission for NIME 2024 in CMT3.
4. Include your title, abstract and co-authors, choose the categorisation for your submission, and comply with the NIME ethics requirements. Add your final, anonymised PDF.
5. Upload an anonymized (if possible) performance of your work as well.

Note: The deadline to create a submission is January 31, 2024. A PDF nor the performance is not required at that time.

You will then have until February 14, 2024 to upload your performance submission as a PDF, and complete your submission.

Clarification of what is expected in each section of the music and installation submission template: Program notes: This is the text you want to appear in the concert and installation program, to be read by the audience, if your submission is accepted. Maximum 200 words.

Project description: Here you explain the background and context of the submitted work, and describe the underlying concepts and technologies, and whatever other information you want reviewers to know. This is also an opportunity to explain why this is relevant to the NIME community, and how it connects to the field. It will be read by reviewers, but if the submission is accepted, it will also be part of documentation for the future, in the form of music proceedings. It is not required to be an academic text.

Performance notes: This is equivalent to a tech rider. Here you describe the technical and practical requirements for the performance or installation, including needs in terms of space, props, furniture, sound amplification, and other things reviewers, music chairs, and organizers need to know to evaluate the feasibility of the work and plan for a potential performance. Please mention if the submission is particularly suitable for a particular venue (of those listed in the call). Also, please be clear about what you yourself is able to bring, e.g., in terms of technology, and what you expect us to provide. The total page count for the submission PDF is expected to be in the range of 2-6 pages.

Requirements for presentation and inclusion in the NIME proceedings

Installation

If your submission is accepted, these are the requirements for being included in the proceedings:

• NIME registration. All presenting authors/performers, whether presenting in person or online, must purchase a ticket to attend NIME.
  DEADLINE: May 7, 2024
• A camera-ready submission. This is a final PDF version of your work that is correctly formatted and ready for inclusion in the proceedings. Camera-ready papers should be added in CMT3.
  DEADLINE: May 7, 2024
• A video submission. For presentation and archiving purposes we require a video presentation of the performance. We will use this video to present papers from authors attending online. For authors attending in person there is the choice to present live or using the video, but the video submission is required for documentation, backup/failsafe purposes and online participants in other time zones.
  DEADLINE: May 31, 2024
• A thumbnail. For presentation and archiving purposes we require a thumbnail representing your subject.
  DEADLINE: May 31, 2024

Your camera-ready submission and your video will be made publicly available.

Video / Thumbnail submission guidelines

The video upload for the proceeding submission should NOT be anonymized but be a close representation of the installation delivered at NIME and can contain footage of people interacting with the installation, footage from the design process, interviews, context and whatever is needed to give a good impression of the work for people following NIME online and later watchers of the archive.

• Maximum length 10 minutes
• Minimum resolution: 1080p
• Encoding: H.264 (often in video software exports as a YouTube preset), mp4
• Upload: You will receive a link with an upload location.
• Thumbnail: 4x3 aspect ratio. JPG, PNG and SVG. Resolution is at your discretion. Avoid transparency as we don’t know our thumbnail page background color yet.

Presentation Format Art Installations:

The presentation format will depend on the author’s location and their ability to travel to Utrecht. In principle, art installations are showcased in Utrecht. However, depending on the submissions the organization will provide opportunities to present work online, either live, recorded or in a hybrid format, the latter is of special interest to the organization. NIME2024 will provide a number of different location opportunities for work to be presented in its optimal environment. These are as follows:

• The main performance venue whose corridors and open spaces provide ample opportunity for interactive art installations to be showcased.
• The Academy Gallery, which provides a typical gallery environment
• The HKU building ‘Ina Boudier Bakkerlaan’ which is home to the game, design and music technology departments of HKU and provides space in different corridors (the workshops and some other program components are organized here as well).
• The Nijverheid, an art community located in Utrecht which provides a nice outside venue. The (affordable) banquet will be organized here as well with opportunities for (interactive) performances.
• The train station in Utrecht. Utrecht has the largest train station in the Netherlands with about 200000 travelers per day.

Please make sure in your submission to indicate which is your preferred venue (kind) for your installation and why.

Authors should also provide a documentation video of the installation for the online attendees. If an art installation is selected for exhibition at NIME and the proposing artists cannot attend the conference in person, we invite the artists to provide links and access that attendees can experience online.

Besides presenting your work at the conference, we want you to submit your work as a representative video submission as well that can be used for archival purposes and viewers online when a live stream is not possible.

NIME 2024 Partners