Louis-Philippe Demers, Bill Vorn (CA)

Among cultures throughout history, the representations of Hell, demons, and punishments are vast. In Inferno, the anxiety of the Singularity translates Hell and infinite punishment into a pseudo-model of infinite automation (rituals) and subordination to the machine. Inferno is a participative robotic performance project that addresses many recurrent issues revolving around human-robot symbiotic relationships. A selected group of the public is given an active part in the performance, creating a radical instance of immersive and participative experiences. Through wearing or being entrapped in a robotic entity, the concept of the Cyborg that emerged in the late 80s is invoked.

Here you can see a documentation of Inferno. During the Ars Electronica Festival, you can also experience the performance live in the Ursulinensaal.

Do you want to participate?
Ask one of the guides at the OK directly at the installation (Ursulinenhof, 2nd floor) and please pass by 20 minutes before the show.

Yoichi Ochiai (JP)

Fairy Lights in Femtoseconds is a 3-dimensional holograph that creates a dialogue between the physical and the immaterial, melting the border between matter and images. The result of a successful collaboration between artist Yoichi Ochiai and three Japanese universities, compositions of light fields are created using laser-induced plasma, operating in 30 femtosecond pulses (30 quadrillionths of a second). Exciting the plasma at high intensity for ultra short time periods causes it to emit light arbitrarily outwards into 3D space. Holographic synthesis on light fields has long been the subject of science fiction and is often visualised in moves and computer games. This project employs a method of rendering aerial and volumetric graphics into three-dimensional, computationally controlled matter. It evokes a magical science-fiction narrative, situating the imaginary and intangible within the ordinary world.

Robertina Šebjanič, Slavko Glamočanin (SI)

Artist, concept, research & development: Robertina Šebjanič
Programming and tech development: Slavko Glamočanin
Coordination & curating: Natacha Seignolles (DécaLab)
Curating advisor: Annick Bureaud
Consultancy: Alenka Malej, marine biology station Piran
Production: DécaLab and Le Cube—Centre de création numérique, February 2015, Paris

Award of Distinction Interactive Art+

Ann-Katrin Krenz (DE)

The relationship between humans and nature seems to be out of balance. The human, a being defined by technology, is harming the environment on which its existence depends. In Parasitic/Symbiotic this tension between nature and technology is addressed. A scenario is established in which a human-made technical device sits, parasite-like, upon a tree. It contains a milling machine, which moves along the tree and carves a text into it. The text is a poem, Abschied, by Romanticist, Joseph von Eichendorff, 1810. The poem expresses the Romantic ideals of humanities desire for oneness with nature. By carving into and harming the tree, this mechanised action directly contradicts these principles. The result is an encoded form of the poem, which incorporates digital aesthetics whilst also becoming a part of the living tree. The resulting damage to the tree is superficial. It will live on merging with the artificial carving until the artwork becomes one with nature.

Onformative in collaboration with Christian Loclair (DE)

Pathfinder is designed to initiate inspiration for choreography. The tool generates an algorithm that projects abstract shapes into space, creating a digital environment to stimulate dancers. The system produces logical transitions between geometric shapes to guide and inspire the user into complimenting these forms by producing continuously transforming human states. Choreographers can adjust parameters to delineate a desired type of animation without the ability to define the exact output. Pathfinder opens new perspectives in dance and choreography. It aims to encourage the creative abilities of generations of digital artists, dancers, and choreographers.

Boris Labbé (FR)

Regie/Director: Boris Labbé
Animation: Boris Labbé, Loïc Sitti, Wen Fan
Kompostion/Compositing: Boris Labbé, Sami Guellaï
Musik/Music: Aurélio Edler-Copes
Sound Mix: Victor Praud
Produzent/Producer: Ron Dyens
Sacrebleu Productions 2015

Prokop Batoniček (CZ), Benjamin Maus (DE)

Jller is an apparatus that sorts pebbles from a specific river by geological age. The stones were taken from the stream bed of the German river, Jller. The history, origin, and path of each stone found in a river is specific to its location, as every river has a different composition of rock types. The origin of these stones is precisely documented, as the machine automatically analyses the stones by type and age. The machine works with an image recognition system that processes the images of the stones and maps each of their locations on the platform throughout the ordering process. The information extracted from each stone are dominant colour, colour composition, and histograms of structural features such as lines, layers, patterns, grain and surface texture. It performs this act of sorting with a series of beautiful, choreographed moves.

Unknown Fields (UK/AU)

Three ceramic Ming-style vessels crafted from toxic mud from a barely liquid lake in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, continually pumped with tailings from rare earth refining process, stand for the amount of waste created in the production of three items of technology—a smartphone, a featherweight laptop, and the cell of a smart car battery. They serve as witnesses to our participation in and interaction with this vicious circle of consumerism and exploitation and reminding us of the disturbing consequences of our consumerist habits, leading to a toxic future. These three Rare Earthenware vessels are the physical embodiment of a contemporary global supply network that displaces earth and weaves matter across the planet. They are presented as objects of desire, but their elevated radiation levels and toxicity make them objects we would not want to possess. They represent the undesirable consequences of our material desires.