Words Without Voices

Ol' Al received an unexpected e-mail in his Inbox this afternoon. It seems that Jim Fielding of Atlantis Found Publishing in Maine came across the review I did about the Metal documentary several months back and asked that I mention the Words Without Voices online album art competition. I took a quick look at the press release and figured it, why not? What follows is the press release sent to me by Mr. Fielding. I encourage any of my artisitcally inclined readers to check it out.

***

Rock Meets Academia in National Concept Album Art Competition



Portland, Maine-based Atlantis Found Publishing Inc. announces the launch of “WORDS WITHOUT VOICES” (™) Online Album Art Competition. The contest seeks digital visual artwork submissions to illustrate the song lyrics of Conceptual Artist James Thomas Fielding.

The contest is limited to the U.S. , Canada and the U.K.

The juried art competition, which seeks to establish a new multimedia artform based on rock “Concept Albums,” offers $6,000 in cash prizes to be awarded to three finalists in two categories: Best Songbook Jacket and Best Album Jacket.

The public will select the winners by voting online at the contest website
http://www.wordswithoutvoices.com/ .

The “WORDS WITHOUT VOICES” (™) series combines Art, Music, Language, and Internet Technology, and will be aimed toward the youth market, especially college art instructors and students who study Advertising, Visual Arts, English, Graphic Design, Multimedia, Music, and Web Design.

Says Maine resident Fielding, 51, “This competition places more emphasis on imagination than knowledge, and students in many fields of study will benefit from both result-oriented and experiential learning.”

Fielding says “WORDS WITHOUT VOICES(™)” is not so much an attempt to resurrect the concept album as to preserve and explore its possibilities as a viable artform.

“The release of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967 should have signaled the beginning of a new era in album composition,” says Fielding, “instead it was a rare high point in a field more interested in making money than exploring art. In the 40 years since Sgt. Pepper’s release, modern rock has been limited enormously by formula formats and commercialism.”

According to Fielding, Green Day’s American Idiot is a good recent example of the “concept album,” even though it wasn’t marketed as such.

Fielding admits that Atlantis Found’s agenda—to elevate an artform which reached it’s creative zenith by the mid-1970’s, is ambitious. “Staples of yesteryear such as concept albums and rock operas, like The Who’s Tommy, Hair, and Jesus Christ Superstar, are rare today,” Fielding says.

Still, he believes the potential appeal of concept albums ranges from “15-year-old heavy-metal headbangers to college professors with PhD’s in literature.”

Fielding is seeking artwork to illustrate the titles of 25 Songbook Jackets and 125 Album covers, in genres ranging from country, gospel, and progressive rock to death metal.

The initial “WORDS WITHOUT VOICES” (™) contest features no music, just the combination of visual artwork and Songbook, Album and Song titles.

While the contest is open to “anyone who is creative,” state contest restrictions apply. Entry fees are $10 for one entry in one category, $15 to enter both. All submissions will be displayed at WordsWithout Voices. com.

Final deadline for the competition is August 31, 2007.

J.T. Fielding is a conceptual artist, freelance writer, rock critic, lyricist, singer, songwriter and musician. He has produced over 500 musical compositions and 5,000 song titles in a 35-year career.

Contact Information:Jim Fielding
Atlantis Found Publishing Inc.
PO Box 9546 Portland, ME. 04112
jtf@wordswithoutvoices.com
http://www.wordswithoutvoices.com/