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2004 Prix Ars Electronica: The Results
3341 submissions from 69 countries, two new categories and a record 130,000 euros in prize money are the gratifying bottom-line numbers from the 2004 Prix Ars Electronica. The winning works in seven categories once again confirm the competition’s role as the barometer of current trends in an increasingly diversified world of media art.
A host of international experts convened April 23-25 in Linz. Arrayed in seven juries, they evaluated more than 3,250 entries submitted to this year’s Prix Ars Electronica. On April 25, the final results were in.
A total of seven Golden Nicas and 14 Awards of Distinction are honoring innovative works from all over the world and representing the entire spectrum of digital art. Joining the “traditional” Prix Ars Electronica categories—Computer Animation / Visual Effects, Digital Musics, Interactive Art, Net Vision und u19 - freestyle computing—this year are the new Digital Communities category and [the next idea] art and technology grant. Along with this expanded format, there has been a significant increase in prize money to 130,000 euros. The Prix Ars Electronica’s successful expansion this year would have been impossible without the commitment of our sponsors—Telekom Austria, voest.alpine and SAP, as well as the City of Linz and the Province of Upper Austria.
With Digital Communities—made possible through cooperation with SAP, the world’s leading supplier of business software—the Prix Ars Electronica intensifies its involvement with the social consequences of art and technology. The focus is on projects that are taking advantage of the possibilities afforded by new technologies to nurture and strengthen the institutions of civil society. The category’s thematic breadth is completely intentional. It’s wide-ranging nature is reflected both by the decision to award two Golden Nicas in it, as well as by the winning projects themselves: “Wikipedia” and “The World Starts with Me.” The tremendous response—over 400 submissions in its very first year—clearly shows that the Digital Communities category is on the right track in spotlighting and promoting a significant social and technological trend.
This year’s other new launch is [the next idea] art and technology grant competition for up-and-coming artists with creative concepts in the fields of media art, media technology and media design. The Prix Ars Electronica had previously lacked a category dedicated to 19- to 27-year-olds, though it is precisely this group of creatives that most needs support in bringing concepts to fruition. [the next idea], made possible through cooperation with voest.alpine, fills this gap. The winning project, “Moony,” is the brainchild of a group of students at Japan’s IAMAS / Institute of Advanced Media Arts and Sciences. Their aim is to develop a completely new kind of interactive spatial interface, an ambitious undertaking that will be realized during the coming months in collaboration with the Ars Electronica Futurelab.
As always in the Prix Ars Electronica’s “traditional” categories—under the patronage of Telekom Austria—impressive projects are being singled out for recognition. The Golden Nica in the Interactive Art category goes to Ben Rubin and Mark Hansen for “Listening Post,” an installation that visualizes messages from the WorldWideWeb in quite a fascinating way. Indie Chris Landreth takes the top prize in Computer Animation / Visual Effects with a moving documentary about an impoverished animation artist. Net Vision honors “Creative Commons” for its highly committed, successful work for improved and, above all, freer dealings with copyrights—a choice meant to signal the jury’s strong approbation for this approach to an issue of particular significance in the field of media art. In the Digital Musics category, Thomas Köner won the Golden Nica for his somber composition “Banlieue du vide.”
The u19 - freestyle computing category for young people chalked up strong gains in participation by artists under 10. Entries submitted by kindergarten kids are no longer a rarity! With their fresh ideas and a real display of fireworks in their works’ diversity and dynamics, our youngest competitors have given another taste of their inexhaustible creativity.
“A strong trend towards utilization of networking and communications technologies is generally evident in all categories including u19,” is Ars Electronica Artistic Director Gerfried Stocker’s recap of this year’s competition.
Again this year, the Prix Ars Electronica is being produced jointly by the Ars Electronica Center and the ORF – Austrian Broadcasting Company together with two of Linz’s essential cultural institutions—the Brucknerhaus and the O.K Center for Contemporary Art. Gerfried Stocker concluded: “The extremely successful outcome of the 2004 Prix Ars Electronica reaffirms the tremendous efficacy of this unique cooperative relationship.”
With queries, 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:
www.aec.at/en/global/press.asp
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