origin

Since 2004, Linz Art University has offered an “Interface Cultures” master’s degree program in which students learn scientific and, above all, artistic ways of working with all possible—and impossible—forms of communication with machines and devices. From the very outset, this program founded by Christa Sommer and Laurent Mignonneau has offered students the opportunity to showcase their work in conjunction with Ars Electronica and thereby to reach very large audiences.

Art and those involved with it have always had to struggle with the question of what it’s actually good for. And when this art is situated at the nexus of technology, then this question is posed even more frequently. Now, this very issue will be the theme of this year’s Interface Cultures exhibition.

Unuselessness – The Useful Useless

It’s said that in art, anything goes. So in this spirit, students have been dealing with all sorts of possibilities and impossibilities without asking themselves whether what they do actually has a point or makes sense. You can never know beforehand where the journey of discovery is heading.

Hugo Martinez-Tormo “Human Allergy” @ Ars Electronica 2010, credit: Ars Electronica

In this blog over the next few weeks, we’ll present a couple of the works that will be featured at Ars Electronica. By way of sneak preview: spotted cows, windshield wipers, knocking houses and more.