PRIX ARS ELECTRONICA

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION FOR CYBERARTS

Since 1987, the Prix Ars Electronica has served as an interdisciplinary platform for everyone who uses the computer as a universal medium for implementing and designing their creative projects at the interface of art, technology and society. The Prix Ars Electronica, the Ars Electronica Festival, the Ars Electronica Center – Museum of the Future and the Ars Electronica Futurelab are the four divisions that comprise Ars Electronica, whose specific orientation and long-term continuity make it a unique platform for digital art and media culture.
The competition is organized by the Ars Electronica Center and ORF’s Upper Austria Regional Studio in collaboration with the O.K Center for Contemporary Art and the Brucknerhaus Linz, and the prizes are awarded during the Ars Electronica Festival each year. The Prix Ars Electronica is one of the most important awards for creativity and pioneering spirit in the field of digital media.

The event calls for entries in seven categories, including a youth competition. And since internationally renowned artists from over 70 countries also participate in the Prix Ars Electronica, it has established itself as a barometer for trends in contemporary media art. Since 2007 Ars Electronica and the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute Media.Art.Research (media.lbg.ac.at) announce the Prix Ars Electronica Media.Art.Research Award, a prize for outstanding theoretical work on the subject of media art.

With over 34,365 entries since 1987 and prize money in 2008 totalling 115,000 euros, the competition offers the largest cash purse for cyberarts worldwide. Each year, six Golden Nicas, twelve Awards of Distinction and approximately 70 Honorary Mentions as well as the Media.Art.Research Award are presented to participants.

Since media art is such a highly dynamic field, criteria for the categories have to be constantly modified and adjusted to societal and technological developments, and so updated to meet new demands.

The Prix Ars Electronica calls for entries and awards prizes in the following seven categories:

The call for the Prix Ars Electronica goes out every year in December; submissions are accepted up into March. International juries select the winners for each category in April.

EVENTS OF THE PRIX ARS ELECTRONICA DURING THE ARS ELECTRONICA FESTIVAL

During the Ars Electronica Festival in September, the Golden Nicas, Awards of Distinction and Honorary Mentions are awarded with pomp at the Ars Electronica Gala. The winners of the Golden Nicas and Awards of Distinction are also invited to present their projects at the Prix Ars Electronica Forums which are held over a number of days. Webcasts of these forums are available at www.aec.at.
The Ars Electronica Festival presents the CyberArts Exhibition annually as one of its main shows at the O.K Center for Contemporary Art. It showcases the winning projects of the latest Prix Ars Electronica. The Museum of the Future, on the other hand, devotes a special exhibition for an entire year to the projects from the youth competition “u19 – freestyle computing”.
Formatted specially for the Festival, the award-winning works from the category "Computer Animation / Film / VFX" are shown at the Ars Electronica Animation Festival with the Electronic Theatre. The “Digital Musics” winners present their works in the form of concerts conceived as part of the programme of Ars Electronica Nightlines.

DOCUMENTATION

Information about the prize-winners and their projects as well as the jury statements are published each year in the CyberArts catalogue (which includes a DVD and CD) and is distributed worldwide by Hatje Cantz Verlag.
Details on prize-winners, winning projects and jury statements since the competition was established in 1987 can also be found in the Prix Ars Electronica’s large online archive.

Prix Ars Electroncia is organized by Ars Electroncia Center Linz and ORF Upper Austria in collaboration with Brucknerhaus Linz and OK Center for Contemporary Art. Prix Ars Electronica is made possible through the support by the City of Linz and the Province of Upper Austria. The competition is sponsored by voestalpine and Liwest Kabelmedien GmbH. Special thanks to KulturKontakt Austria, Pöstlingberg Schlössl, Casinos Austria, Sony DADC and Spring Global Mail.

IDEA & CONCEPT

Idea: Hannes Leopoldseder
Concept: Christine Schöpf (ORF),
Gerfried Stocker (AEC)
Project Manager: Bianca Petscher, info@prixars.aec.at,
Tel. +43.732.7272.79