www.aec.at  

AWARDS OF DISTINCTION

COMPUTER ANIMATION / FILM / VFX

Kudan
Taku Kimura (JP) / Links DigiWorks inc.

new window: http://www.linksdw.com/kudan.htmlhttp://www.linksdw.com/kudan.html

Taku Kimura’s KUDAN tells the story of a man who receives a peculiar packet from the mailman one day: a helmet that morphs him into the “Kudan.” This transformation into a half-steer, half-man opens up a whole new perspective for him on the world in which he lives. He finds himself in a seemingly endless forest full of gigantic trees whose roots are all interconnected and entwined. Each of these trees is a human being who, in turn, is interrelated via “words” with all other human beings. Then, suddenly, the man makes a horrifying discovery: he sees mysterious creatures starting to saw on one of the tree’s roots. And not just any tree—the tree of his son. The father takes up a desperate fight to help his boy ... In a most impressive manner, Taku Kimura relates the essential significance of communication, by means of which an individual is capable of connecting up to others. Or not doing so. Taku Kimura’s KUDAN receives a 2008 Distinction.


Musicotherapie
Amael Isnard, Manuel Javelle, Clément Picon (FR) / Supinfocom

new window: http://www.musicotherapie-lefilm.comhttp://www.musicotherapie-lefilm.com

The protagonist in this surreal animated film is a chimpanzee who is very much willing to work but is extremely sensitive to noise. His efforts to do his job as a physician are thwarted by an all-too-present background blare. A host of fellow-creatures—the fly in his office buzzing in circles above his head, the octopus rummaging around in the kitchen, the TV-viewing lion—and every single act performed by the patients he treats make noises that blend together into a “symphony of everyday life.”

DIGITAL MUSICS

the benchmark consort
hans w. koch (DE)

new window: www.hans-w-koch.netwww.hans-w-koch.net

“the benchmark consort” is an unusual performance in which commercially available laptops turn into musical instruments. The music lineup consists of a piece entitled “more&more,” software whose name essentially describes what it does. Once it’s installed, more&more unavoidably places excessive demands on even the fastest computer, which then produces sounds as a reaction to the overload. Every one of the benchmark consort’s musicians has the same software installed on his/her laptop, and their collaboration constitutes an orchestra of a very different sort. Thus, Hans W. Koch’s “the benchmark consort” reconfigures the computer as a musical instrument in a highly unconventional way and his efforts have earned him a 2008 Distinction.


Core Sample
Teri Rueb (US)

new window: www.terirueb.net/core_samplewww.terirueb.net/core_sample

Core Sample is a GPS data-based audio tour that deals with the history and landscape of Spectacle Island in Boston Harbor. This tiny piece of land that was degraded to Boston’s garbage dump for almost a century was recently reopened to the public. The island’s past—buried under a thick stratum of clay—is no longer visible, and it’s future is not yet evident either. But Core Sample makes both audible. Visitors can borrow a small computer including an attached set of headphones and, thus equipped, set out on an audio tour of the island. Depending on the visitor’s specific location, he/she has access to a GPS-customized selection from among over 250 sounds. Statements by past and current island residents, workers and scholars augment the acoustic experience. Teri Rueb’s Core Sample is being honored with a 2008 Distinction.

HYBRID ART

bleu remix
Yann Marussich (CH)

new window: www.yannmarussich.chwww.yannmarussich.ch

Yann Marussich’s Blue Remix is an impressive live performance created in cooperation with physicians and chemists. For one hour, the artist remains motionless in a seated position while a blue fluid oozes from his mouth, his nose and the pores of his skin. Blue Remix received a 2008 Distinction.


micro.flow
Julius Popp (DE)

new window: www.sphericalrobots.orgwww.sphericalrobots.org

“micro.flow” focuses on human intelligence and the question of how our brain processes information. Two fluids are pumped into a container; however, these fluids cannot blend together. “micro.flow” uses a camera to observe the reaction within its own interior and thereby comes to understand not only the characteristics of the two fluids but itself too.

INTERACTIVE ART

a plaything for the great observers at rest
Norimichi Hirakawa (JP)

new window: http://counteraktiv.com/wrk/ap/http://counteraktiv.com/wrk/ap/, new window: http://counteraktiv.comhttp://counteraktiv.com

“a plaything for the great observers at rest” opens up to the observer a variety of different perspectives on our solar system, and does so without the observer changing his/her location. Just like moving our eyeballs, it’s possible to switch between a geocentric and a heliocentric point of view. It’s a matter of the “core of the world” ...


Absolut Quartet
Jeff Lieberman, Dan Paluska (US)

new window: http://bea.sthttp://bea.st, new window: http://plainfront.comhttp://plainfront.com

The Absolut Quartet is an invitation to enter into a creative dialog with a robot orchestra. There’s a trio of robots, and the human user makes it an even quartet. The latter gets things started by composing a motif and inputting it via the Internet; this lays the musical groundwork for a unique three-minute concert by the user’s robotic bandmates. The performance is recorded and saved to memory in a Web gallery. Absolut Quartet makes the Internet an interface that enables users to conceive works of art in the real world and store them in the virtual one. Moreover, the complexity of the robotic instruments is truly impressive: for instance, a six-meter-long marimba (a subspecies of xylophone) that’s played by 40 two-armed robots firing tiny rubber balls with astounding accuracy at the instrument’s wooden bars. Or a tonal array of 35 wineglasses made to reverberate by a robotic finger flitting above them. Via Internet, the human creator can take in the performance of his/her piece. Absolut Quartet receives a 2008 Distinction.

DIGITAL COMMUNITIES

PatientsLikeMe

new window: www.patientslikeme.comwww.patientslikeme.com

PatientsLikeMe is a website serving chronically ill men and women all over the world. The diagnosis and the course an illness takes, treatment methods and their success are documented here in detail, whereby each patient sketches his/her own illness profile, which is then made available to all other fellow-sufferers. PatientsLikeMe also hosts numerous discussion forums designed to enable patients to engage in mutual exchange. PatientsLikeMe thus combines information offerings with social interaction.


Global Voices Online

new window: www.globalvoicesonline.orgwww.globalvoicesonline.org

In this age of a globalized communications society, there are simply no events or issues that do not become the subject of commentary by millions of critics worldwide. It’s impossible to pay heed to them all. Global Voices is the attempt to channel this permanently swelling flood of information. Here, an international team of bloggers seeks out and comments on all the information that is sufficiently newsworthy to merit such treatment—especially when these stories aren’t being sufficiently played up by establishment mass media.

u19 – freestyle computing

uterus = raum= universum
Susanne Legerer

On an ultrasound image, we can examine the interior of the uterus, and make out its dimensions, its translucence and its outer limits. This project investigates analogies between this microcosm and the gigantic macrocosmic space of the universe. The image-generating technologies—the ultrasound procedure and the Hubble Telescope—are scrutinized and compared on the auditive level. The world is reflected by a grain of sand just as the universe corresponds to the uterus. The uterus, a highly socially charged female transformation space, becomes a reflection of the universe.


eEx Network Discovery
Emanuel Jöbstl

new window: http://emiswelt.em.funpic.de/planet_dev/dev_xnd.phpemiswelt.em.funpic.de/planet_dev/dev_xnd.php
new window: http://emiswelt.em.funpic.de/planet_dev/xnd_release.zipemiswelt.em.funpic.de/planet_dev/xnd_release.zip

Emanuel Jöbstl’s eEx Network Discovery is a program that can graphically depict networks and save the resulting information for future use. It registers all the computers and devices with which a connection is established—whether input manually or via network scans.

Merchandise Prize u14

Koyangi
Selina Fanninger

new window: http://selina.dalcomie.netselina.dalcomie.net

Koyangi means cat in Korean and is also the name of Selina Fanninger’s website. There, the featured attractions are her drawings. At age six, Selina Fanninger got started drawing with mouse and computer. She then graduated to a graphics tablet. At this time, she also launched her first website. She designed “Koyangi” in 2006.

Merchandise Prize u10

Der vergessene Schatz (The Forgotten Treasure)
Simon Menschhorn, Max Menschhorn

In this three-minute animated film by Simon and Max Menschhorn, a scuba-diving LEGO figure discovers an undersea treasure, but on his way home, he forgets it in the train. It’s not until the next day that he becomes aware of his loss. Then he goes to the train station and picks up his treasure chest. This short film consists of 1,250 photos. Simon was responsible for moving the figures and constructing the LEGO set; Max did the photography.

news picture

The Winners of Prix Ars Electronica 2002
Five juries of international experts met from April 19 to 21 at the ORF Upper Austrian Regional Studio in Linz to judge the best works in the cyberarts competition Prix Ars Electronica 2002. Here a...
more

news picture

Net Vision / Net Excellence at Prix Ars Electronica
The Internet as established part of our everyday lives, and as powerful motor of innovation: The net category of Prix Ars Electronica wants to honor both of these aspects.
more

Logos - Ars Electronica, ORF Oberösterreich, Brucknerhaus Linz, O.K. Centrum für Gegenwartskunst
x O.K. Centrum für Gegenwartskunst Brucknerhaus Linz Ars Electronica ORF Oberösterreich
© Ars Electronica Linz GmbH, info@aec.at