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Hybrid - living in paradox
The rapid breakdown of boundaries and ongoing fusions in art, technology
and society will occupy the focal point of the 2005 Ars Electronica Festival. An
extensive lineup of events, conferences, symposia, exhibitions and performances will open up insights into the state of the art of international media culture.
Science, research, media, politics, art, cultural identity and the definition of physicality-traditionally separate domains are blending together to engender new products, alliances and forms of expression. The consequences of this trend are "mixed", hybrid solutions like nanotechnology, bionic prostheses, culture jams, hybrid motors, podcasting and blogging.
With "Hybrid - living in paradox", Ars Electronica is dedicated to the implosive tendencies that have been triggered by digital technologies and are now changing our world. Cultures are being superimposed upon one another and fused together, barriers are being broken down-national ones as well as those of a material, technological and psychological nature.
In the words of Ars Electronica Artistic Director Gerfried Stocker: "Ultimately, digital media art is itself a hybrid, the upshot of crossing art and technology. It encompasses the entire spectrum of expressive forms and calls for an extraordinary crossover of knowledge and expertise."
New Events, New Venues
The new Animation Festival will screen over 100 animated films and thereby illustrate the current state of visual design. The spacious assembly shop of the Austrian Federal Railway's Technical Services in Linz provides an extraordinary backdrop for "Suspended Engines", the finale of the Festival's first day and the international, multicultural kickoff of Ars Electronica week.
The role of Linz as a center of global media culture will be powerfully underscored with the opening of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Digital Culture and Media Science in conjunction with Ars Electronica 2005. The LBI is a cooperation of the Ludwig Boltzmann Society, Ars Electronica Center, Linz’ University of Art and Lentos Museum of Art. Another major innovation is Hotspot Linz, a municipal initiative that is establishing a new standard for the electronic linkup of an urban community. Also new: The Gallery of the Province of Upper Austria is now associated with the Ars Electronica Festival.
Hybrid Cultures and Paradox Machines...
... determine the form and content of this year's exhibitions. "Hybrid Creatures and Paradox Machines" showcases artistic takes on robotics, bionics and bio-engineering, artistically constructed apparatuses and poetically useless machines. 180 tons of sand turn Linz's Main Square into a wildlife preserve for artist Theo Jansen's bizarre "beach beasts," hybrid life forms generated at the nexus of computer-aided engineering and biological principles.
The overlaying of identities and cultures in the context of globalization occupies the focal point of several exhibitions. "Campus" features works from three institutions of higher education in media studies: the Srishti School in Bangalore, Istanbul's Bilgi University and the Interface Culture program at Linz's University of Art. "Origin" by Daniel Lee will be on display at the Linz train station. "CyberArts" at the O.K Center for Contemporary Art presents outstanding examples of international media culture.
The Ars Electronica Center - Museum of the Future is putting an accent on youth in its permanent collection with an exhibit focusing on "u 19 - freestyle computing", the Prix Ars Electronica's category for young people.
Conferences and Symposia...
... offer insights into the latest trends at the interface of art, technology and society. The Hybrid theme symposium curated by Derrick de Kerckhove is dedicated to an analysis of causes and consequences of the rapid ongoing advance of hybrid phenomena and deeper interconnections among them. With their overarching theme expressed in the title "Commons & Communities", a series of speeches will address the proliferation of digital communities within the context of a globalized, knowledge-based society.
The 2005 "Pixelspaces" takes up the subject of emotion and data processing. Technical and legal aspects of free media's access to information will comprise the centerpiece of the Radio FRO Conference. Media activism in Italy, "Digital Divide" politics in India and the subject of openness in connection with free software, free access and open cultures will provide food for thought at this year's electrolobby Kitchen.
This year, the Johannes Kepler University of Linz will be collaborating on the organization of the first "Man and Computer" conference, which will be looking at interactive systems in connection with art, development and science. Derrick de Kerckhove will deliver a keynote address on Marshall McLuhan. In a newly formatted series of speeches by featured artists, Theo Jansen and Ulf Langheinrich will offer insights into their work.
Hybrid Concerts and Performances
"Listening between the Lines" will combine elements of orchestral music, digital sound synthesis, live electronics and remix into a concert evening on a grand scale. Music by György Ligeti, Pierre Boulez and Philipp Glass will be performed jointly by Linz's Bruckner Orchestra under Dennis Russell Davies together with young creators of electronic music.
Musicians in India and in Austria will collaborate live on a musical performance featuring videos and a light show on Linz's Main Square organized by the Srishti School in Bangalore. In "Drift - live version" at the Posthof, Ulf Langheinrich blends visualization and sound into a hypnotic sensory experience. This year, Linz's Visualized Klangwolke will be staged by Lawine Torrèn, artist Hubert Lepka's crew famous for their fabulous spectacles. The O.K Night at the O.K Center for Contemporary Art presents "Electronic Theatre", award-winning works of animation from the 2005 Prix Ars Electronica together with digital music and visual performances. Mercan Dede's "gezgin" at the Brucknerhaus promises to be an exhilarating amalgamation of traditional Near Eastern music and digital sounds. "Hybrid Transmissions" will conclude the Festival on a high note; admission is free of charge.
Patrons and Sponsors
The Ars Electronica Festival and the Prix Ars Electronica are produced by the Ars Electronica Center in cooperation with the Austrian Broadcasting Company's Upper Austria Regional Studio, the Brucknerhaus Linz and the O.K Center for Contemporary Art.
The following Linz institutions have contributed to Ars Electronica: the University of Art, the Lentos Museum of Art, Architecture Forum Upper Austria and the Posthof and Landesgalerie Linz.
Ars Electronica and Prix Ars Electronica are supported by the City of Linz, the Province of Upper Austria and the Office of the Chancellor of the Republic of Austria / Art Section.
Lead sponsors are Telekom Austria and voestalpine.
Additional support has been received from KulturKontakt Austria, Casino Linz, Pöstlingbergschlößl, Sony DADC, Linz AG and Spring.
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More information and pictures in the Digital Press Kit of Hybrid-Living in Paradox.
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For further information please contact:
Mag. Wolfgang Bednarzek
Pressesprecher Ars Electronica
AEC Ars Electronica Center Linz
Museumsgesellschaft mbH
Hauptstraße 2, A - 4040 Linz, Austria
Tel ++43.732.7272-38
Fax ++43.732.7272-638
wolfgang.bednarzek@aec.at
http://www.aec.at/press
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