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Timeshift - The World in 25 Years
25 years of Ars Electronica and digital revolution. And what does the next quarter century have in store? A retrospective and a preview of trends and phenomena at the interface of art, technology and society. Plus two additional days of program features and special events.
Vienna, August 17, 2004. Transformation, upheaval and the future are the programmatic concepts of Ars Electronica 2004. The look back at the past serves as a strategy for shaping the future. The younger generation of artists
and theoreticians meets the trailblazers and visionaries of the pioneer days of digital culture to undertake a joint analysis of Ars Electronica’s approach to work and design principles, and to offer a retrospective and a preview of developments in the impact zone where art, technology and society meet. New features, activities and special events make it possible to extend the program by two days, and running the festival from Thursday to Tuesday provides for a more intensive use of the entire weekend.
The past, present and future of media culture ...
... are the main threads running through the thematic orientation of the 2004 Ars Electronica Festival.“How do we propose to deal with the turbulent dynamics of scientific and technological change and the ethical-moral issues that will accompany it? Do we face them with more confidence now? Over the last 25 years, have we learned to assert ourselves with respect to these phenomena in a more enlightened, emancipated and critical fashion?” asks Gerfried Stocker, the artistic director of Ars Electronica. In each of the four panels of the TIMESHIFT Symposium, guest curated by Michael Naimark, a young practitioner will be getting together with senior pioneers to jointly confront these issues in a way that does not turn into nostalgic reminiscence. The objective is rather to let the experiences of Ars Electronica pass in review of those unencumbered by the past. Young specialists like Peruvian scientist José-Carlos Mariátegui and Columbia University’s Alena Williams will be joining established pioneers like Peter
Weibel, Marvin Minsky, Esther Dyson and Stewart Brand to face questions at the nexus of yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Documentations like the Timeline, exhibitions like Digital Avant-Garde in the Lentos Museum of Art, and special historical addresses like the presentation by Itsuo Sakane will provide festivalgoers with an overview of the history of 25 years of digital media culture as reflected by Ars Electronica.
Re-Inventing Radio will be staged within the framework of Ars Electronica and dedicated to the 80th anniversary of radio in Austria; this joint presentation with the Austrian Broadcasting Company’s station Ö1 will feature the Long Night of Radio Art and a special symposium.
The CyberArts 2004 exhibition as well as the Prix Forums and Digital Musics in Concert will showcase works singled out for recognition at the 2004 Prix Ars Electronica and offer insights into the current state of creativity in digital media art. Linz’s University of Art will host Campus, the exhibition of works by young artists studying at the IAMAS. This Japanese institute’s interdisciplinary orientation and the resulting high potential for creativity give rise to expectations of a glimpse into the future of artistic production.
Pulsating events and performances ...
... will immerse all of Linz in a festival atmosphere. The world premiere of Klaus Obermaier’s Apparition will establish a new standard in the fusion of dance and media art. Linz Writes its Future will turn the city’s Main Square into a time machine for local residents and festivalgoers.
An Evening in the Gardens set in an idyllic spot atop the Franz-Joseph-Warte offers a one-of-a-kind blend of nature with media art, sound streams, sound installations and performances high above the rooftops of Linz. The Ars Electronica Quarter will transform itself into a venue for musical events,
performances and sound installations entitled Vita Pulsante. L‘Espace Temporel will be an epic concert evening spanning an arc from orchestral to digital music. The Klangwolke by Peter Wolf promises music and magic.
The focal-point theme of digital commons and digital communities ...
... casts the spotlight of attention on this trend. Digital Communities, the newest Prix Ars Electronica category,was a tremendous success in its very first year. The Prix Ars Electronica Forum featuring experts like Howard Rheingold and practitioners like Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales, and a sound-bridge to
Mulonga.net will be two efforts to confront this highly relevant phenomenon. Another special highpoint will be the launch of Creative Commons Austria, which will be attended by Lawrence Lessig, one of the leaders in the Creative Commons movement. The Electrolobby and Electrolobby Kitchen will undertake an intensive encounter with manifestations of digital communities.
Conferences at the nexus of art, technology and society ...
... will be another point of emphasis at the festival. Language of Networks scrutinizes the latest methods of network visualization. In research, as a scientific application, in teaching or as an instrument of artistic production, network visualization techniques are being used in an ever-growing spectrum of fields. Experts from a wide variety of disciplines will elaborate on the causes and effects of this trend and the opportunities it presents. The Pixelspaces conference will be dedicated to the question of whether media art functions as a source of creative impetus for other domains of social life—the economy, for instance. The Radio FRO Conference will deal with the impact of new technologies on free media.
Ars Electronica has been following the digital revolution for 25 years now, analyzing the social and cultural effects of digital media and communications technologies from critical as well as utopian, artistic and scientific points of view, thinking them through and inferring potential developments.
TIMESHIFT builds a bridge from the past to the present and on into the future of the encounter with these issues.
Contact:
Mag. Wolfgang Bednarzek MAS
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
Information on the Ars Electronica Festival:http://www.aec.at/timeshift
and the Ars Electronica Press Lounge:http://www.aec.at/press
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