Radical Atoms

Relative Realities

robert.bauernhansl — Wed, 14 Sep 2016 15:56:44 +0000

A pendulum swings through a space. A video screen, constituting its pendulum bob, carves its path through the exhibition space. From its ever-changing position it presents a view into a different scene. Although freely swaying through space it collides with objects; invisible, but audible. A computer traces the pendulum’s position and—in a computer model—embeds it into a mathematical world where it collides and interacts with objects. This interaction between the pendulum and its mathematical surroundings provides the source for a three-dimensional soundscape. Something is forced into motion. Slowly it returns to standstill. Next time things will behave rather similarly. Only the world in the computer changes.

Artistic concept, audio and visuals: Volkmar Klien

Sensor and video system, modeling: Thomas Grill

Pendulum Driving device: Bernardo Niederhageböck & Gerald Hanisch

Color grading: Lisa Truttmann

With the support of: Rubblemaster (rubblemaster.com)

Cat-x—technical production: Florian Prix

With the support of: Niederösterreich Kultur, Klangraum Krems, Ministry for Education, Art and Culture, Musik Aktuell

The Recap

Martin Hieslmair — Tue, 13 Sep 2016 10:37:18 +0000

“RADICAL ATOMS and the alchemists of our time” was the theme of the Ars Electronica Festival staged September 8-12, 2016 at multiple locations in Linz. The prime venue was, once again, POSTCITY, the former Austrian Postal Service logistics facility adjacent to the train station. It provided 80,000 m2 of exhibition space for conferences and speeches, exhibitions and projects, concerts and performances, animated films and awards ceremonies, guided tours and workshops. Here are some motifs conveying impressions of this year’s festival.

Day 5: One last day of festival fever

Vanessa Graf — Tue, 13 Sep 2016 09:00:31 +0000

Even the most amazing festival has to come to a close at some point – the fifth and last day of Ars Electronica 2016 has visitors looking back on an incredible weekend. With the Music Monday Program, the 2016 Ars Electronica Festival comes to a musical end.

Day 4: Recap of Another Eventful Day

Martin Hieslmair — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 07:24:30 +0000

In only a few more hours, the 2016 Ars Electronica Festival goes down in history. In the meantime, let’s take a retrospective look at the highlights of Day 4—the Mini Maker Faire Linz, another interesting lineup of speeches and workshops, and, to wrap things up, the musical crescendo of the entire festival, the Big Concert Night.

Day 3: From Farmer’s Market to Drones Show

Martin Hieslmair — Sun, 11 Sep 2016 13:12:22 +0000

The third day of the 2016 Ars Electronica Festival continued with conferences and talks by international artists and scientists – but it also offered the opportunity to meet the winners of the Prix Ars Electronica personally. The POSTCITY welcomed the guests on that day with an organic farmers market. In the evening, Intel and Ars Electronica presented the European premiere of DRONE 100.

Scalar Fields – Each step has an Importance

Martin Hieslmair — Sat, 10 Sep 2016 10:32:32 +0000

“Scalar Fields” visualizes the pressure field around the soles of shoes. By using the fluid simulation software developed by the artist, the propagation of pressure in air is visualized in 8K video. During the Ars Electronica Festival 2016, the visualization can be seen as floor and wall projection at Deep Space 8K with a marvelous sound experience.

POSTCITY Linz: From Postal Service Logistics Center to Event Venue to Transit Camp

Vanessa Graf — Sat, 10 Sep 2016 10:30:11 +0000

POSTCITY in Linz debuted as the Ars Electronica Festival venue in 2015, and the former Austrian Postal Service logistics facility is reprising its role as a setting for media art events this year. Between these two deployments, POSTCITY served as a transit camp for refugees. Paul Reinthaler, regional director of the Red Cross, gives an account of the challenges the past year posed.

That Was Day 2 of the Festival!

Martin Hieslmair — Sat, 10 Sep 2016 10:29:08 +0000

The second day of the 2016 Ars Electronica Festival was dominated by the annual symposia. But the Friday of each Ars Electronica Festival is also traditionally the day of the awards ceremonies of the Prix Ars Electronica. While the kids of the category u19 – Create Your World received their prizes already at noon, the adults became their Golden Nicas in the evening at a festive gala. What else has been going on on Day 2 of the 2016 Ars Electronica Festival, you can read in this blog post.

“River of Knowledge” – Klangwolke 2016

Vanessa Graf — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 14:00:22 +0000

The Klangwolke [Cloud of Sound] is an autumn highlight of Linz’s annual calendar of events. Conceived as a blend of music, performance, art and spectacle with a different theme each year, it’s been a crowd-pleaser ever since its launch in 1979. The 2016 edition is entitled “River of Knowledge.” We recently had a chance to talk about the upcoming event with producer Uwe Buhrdorf and Rica Blunck and Tilo Nest of the cast and crew.

Day 1: The festival has started!

Vanessa Graf — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 09:16:05 +0000

The first day of the 2016 Ars Electronica Festival started with a lot of exhibition openings – from the Alchemists at POSTCITY to the CyberArts opening at OK Center for Contemporary Art, there was lots to see. In the evening, the grand Opening set the musical tone for the coming weekend.