 |
|
|
Prix Ars Electronica features a New Category in 2004
Vienna (December 17, 2003) – The premiere of the Digital Communities category featuring an awards ceremony and exhibition of outstanding projects in New York will highlight the 2004 Prix Ars Electronica. A total of seven Golden Nica prizes as well as Awards of Distinction and Honorary Mentions will be handed out in six categories. Another innovation this year is a spin-off of the Prix Ars Electronica’s u19 freestyle computing category: [the next idea] competition honors outstanding concepts for not-yet-produced projects by artists age 19-27. Entries may be submitted for Prix Ars Electronica consideration from January 12 to March 12, 2004.
To mark Ars Electronica’s 25th anniversary, the Prix Ars Electronica is expanding the international scope of its activities and focusing on phenomena of tremendous current relevance to Information Society. The new Digital Communities category will recognize exemplary initiatives that are advancing the openness of Information Society. In the words of Ars Electronica Artistic Director Gerfried Stocker: “The projects in this new category are utilizing modern technologies to implement a vision of new, open and democratic structures. They are bringing people closer to one another, creating means of access to information, and making a tangible contribution to improving the quality of life and promoting social coexistence.” This category is made possible by SAP, the world’s leading supplier of business software. Examples of the activities on which it will focus include collective “blogging“ (gathering opinions, information and links) in the Internet, spontaneously congregating “flash mobs” (large-scale assemblies organized online or via cell phone), learning, gaming, and fan communities, e-government portals, and innovative developmental projects in so-called Third World countries. The prizes in this category will be awarded by a jury made up of leading international experts including Joichi Ito, Shanthi Kalathil, Howard Rheingold and Oliviero Toscani. The winners will be singled out for recognition in June 2004 at a ceremony in New York, where their projects will then go on public exhibition. The prizes in the other “classic” categories will be handed out as in the past at the Prix Ars Electronica Gala in Autumn 2004 in Linz.
Prix Ars Electronica – Europe’s Showcase of the Best of Cyberart
Seven Golden Nicas—the coveted statuettes presented to the grand prizewinners—as well as a total of 130,000 Euros in prize money will be awarded in the following six categories in 2004: Digital Communities, Net Vision, Interactive Art, Computer Animation/Visual Effects, Digital Musics and u19 freestyle computing.
Expanded Category for Young People
The u19 freestyle computing category is being expanded in 2004. This competition is for works of animation, Internet projects, sounds, graphics, software and even robots created by computer freaks and novices alike age 19 and under. Besides the Golden Nica, special merchandise prizes will be awarded to exceptional young artists in different age groups.
Plus, a new category focusing on ideas for not-yet-produced projects by artists age 19-27 is being launched this year. The aim of [the next idea] competition is to discover concepts for tomorrow in young minds today. The winner will receive a grant as well as the opportunity to bring his/her project to fruition as Artist in Residence at the Ars Electronica Futurelab.
Committed Partners Make Visions Reality
The firms that have supported Prix Ars Electronica over the years are setting an example of how the private sector’s commitment to enhancing cultural life can nurture the creation of contemporary art. On the importance of outstanding relationships with corporate sponsors, Gerfried Stocker said: “Strong associates like SAP, Telekom Austria and voestalpine enable us not only to carry on the Prix in the form that has been so successful up to now but also to enhance it with important, innovative themes and aspects.” Taking a place this year besides Telekom Austria, long-time benefactor of the “classic” Prix categories, and voestalpine is SAP, sponsor of [the next idea] and a partner that will make a substantial contribution to sustaining and strengthening the innovativeness and dynamism of the Prix Ars Electronica.
The Prix Ars Electronica
The Prix Ars Electronica is being held for the eighteenth time in 2004. This cyberarts competition has been conceived as an open platform for a wide range of artistic disciplines in the digital media domain at the interface of art, technology and society. With more than 21,000 works submitted since 1987 by 17,000 participants representing 87 countries, the Prix Ars Electronica has become the most important and successful international showcase of the best of digital media art.
Contact
Wolfgang A. Bednarzek
Pressesprecher / Press Officer
AEC Ars Electronica Center Linz, Hauptstraße 2, 4040 Linz, Austria
tel ++43.732.7272-38. fax ++43.732.7272-638. wolfgang.bednarzek@aec.at
Press Lounge@Ars Electronica: http://www.aec.at/press
|
|
