Ars Electronica: Austria’s Contribution to the UN Anniversary Exhibition
The United Nations was founded 60 years ago. Austria will be present at the anniversary festivities in the form of an Ars Electronica project. Linz-based artist Gerhard Dirmoser will present his “Memory Theater” in Geneva.
Approximately 70 member states of the United Nations are each making a work of modern art available to the international exhibition being staged in honor of the UN’s 60th anniversary. Austria’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva has selected Gerhard Dirmoser’s project “25 Years of Ars Electronica” as Austria’s contribution to the exhibition.
In his remarks, Ambassador Wolfgang Petritsch referred to the tremendous relevance and appropriateness of the focus on science and technology in Dirmoser’s work. These are issues of key significance on the UN’s agenda—in general, with respect to furthering international cooperation to foster development, and particularly in light of the upcoming Second Phase of the World Summit on the Information Society – WSIS that will be held in November 2005 in Tunis.
Gerhard Dirmoser’s graphic measures 240 cm x 168 cm and was produced in 2003–2004. It depicts the contents of 25 years of Ars Electronica—that is, about 9,000 pages of text subdivided into sectors of approximately 4,800 blocks of text—in the form of a “Memory Theater,” a method developed during the Renaissance that has proven to be an excellent basic method for the representation of knowledge. The “Memory Theater” has been a part of the permanent collection on display at the Ars Electronica Center since 2004.
The official opening of the exhibition (Vernissage de l’exposition internationale d’art contemporain) is set for June 27, 2005 at 6:30 PM. The occasion is being marked by a reception hosted jointly by the governments of Switzerland and of the Canton and City of Geneva at the exhibition venue (Palais des Nations in Geneva).
Ars Electronica: International Commitment
Ars Electronica has a growing worldwide presence. Ars Electronica produced Austria’s contribution to the First Phase of the World Summit on the Information Society in December 2003 in Geneva. Last year, there were exhibitions and a symposium in New York. Coming up is an exhibition that will run from July 3 to early August 2005 at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts; this show will elaborate on the history of Ars Electronica’s multifarious activities at the interface of art, technology and society.
Exhibition Opening:
June 27, 6:30 PM, Palais des Nations in Geneva
Exhibition Run:
June 26 – October 24, 2005
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