Ars Electronica is an internationally unique platform for digital art and media culture, located in Linz, Austria.
Ars Electronica 2020 is a journey to measure the ‘new’ world and a journey through “Kepler’s Gardens”, which are located in Linz at the JKU Campus and at 120 other locations worldwide. In the course of this journey, the important questions of our time will be discussed, questions raised by the global corona crisis, and what we can and must do now will be considered. All the issues touched upon are marked by a general UNCERTAINTY and the question of how the crisis will shape and change us as individuals and as a society, us as HUMANITY. Two tensions in particular are in focus: AUTONOMY and DEMOCRACY as well as TECHNOLOGY and ECOLOGY.
These are some of the outstanding projects of the ARS ELECTRONICA FESTIVAL Edition, In Kepler’s gardens, September 9 to 13, 2020.
The Biosphere Project / Joaquin Fargas (AR)
This project is part of the Ars Electronica Garden Buenos Aires.
This project consists of natural ecosystems isolated in sealed containers that only allow the external influence of heat and light. The objective is to collaborate actively on raising awareness about the fragility of our planet and the importance and urgency of its care.
SPACE / EARTH / WATER TRIAD / PRISMA: Art, Science, Technology (CL)
This project is part of the Ars Electronica Garden Santiago de Chile. This Garden presents the SPACE / EARTH / WATER TRIAD. The three conceptual axes embody the main components of Chilean geography and the wide diversity of its natural terrain from north to south. They comprise projects developed by artists together with scientists, live-streamed performances,?excursions, videos, and virtual environments at the crossroads of arts, science and technology. With the aim of exploring creative imaginaries that challenge traditional boundaries among these fields of knowledge, all of them outline alternative ways of living, thinking and feeling within our ever-changing environment.
Pianographique / Maki Namekawa (JP/AT), Cori O’Lan (AT)
Pianist Maki Namekawa returned to Deep Space 8K with Cori O’Lan!
Maki Namekawa played musci by Philip Glass: “Distant Figure” – A Passacaglia, Elliot Goldenthal: Gigue Diabolique and Joop Beving: Ab Ovo, Midwayer, Hanging D. Maki Namekawa was accompanied by Cori O’Lan whose visualisations reacted in realtime to the music.
Man & Wah, LIFE FORCE – AMAZONIA COSMOS 2020 / Museum of Brisbane
This project is part of the Ars Electronica Garden Brisbane. Man & Wah’s practice is a remedy to reconnect us with nature and the cosmos, pondering the mystery and multilayered momentum that propels the cosmic process and its influence. Their work is informed by how language impacts the way we think and feel, how the past and present can mould ideas, beliefs, and social structures, and how information flow is controlled to induce certain human reactions and ultimately outcomes.
Algorithmic Perfumery / Frederik Duerinck (NL)
What if every human could have their own personal scent?
In Algorithmic Perfumery, the world of scent is explored by using the visitor’s input to train the creative capabilities of an automated system. Custom scents are created by a machine learning algorithm based on the unique data we feed it. The outcome is a unique scent generated and compounded on-site. By participating in the experience, visitors contribute to the on-going research to improve the system and reinvent the future of perfumery.
Bodyless / Virtual and Physical Media Integration Association of Taiwan (TW)
This project is part of the Ars Electronica Garden Taipei. Taiwan Garden gathers the most outstanding artists and teams, whose works center around various fields relating to Taiwan’s local character and visual elements, such as its history, nature, environment, folklore, politics, culture, and travel. These brilliant works address different topics, from the delicate to the popular. Taiwan Garden emphasizes the interaction between modern technological applications in art and Taiwan’s valuable cultural assets to embody the concept of “glocalization.” This ability to see Taiwan’s XR development from a bird’s eye view has doubtless helped to bring out the top-notch talents and high-quality production capacity in its XR field.
Portrait of a Generative Memory / Indiara Di Benedetto (IT)
How does someone interpret and recall a human face? How can these memories and related emotions be communicated? In an attempt to remember individual faces while dealing with large amounts of pictures, Portrait of a Generative Memory focuses on the subjective interpretation of personal memories by collecting information about the elements that people are able to memorize about a human face. The project is centered on the relationship between observation and imagination: observation, as the method used to internalize reality through our intellect, emotions and experience; imagination, as a personal and individual interpretation of a given experience, influenced by the thinking patterns of the individual.
Transmedia Storytelling: Camilla Plastic Ocean Plan / Filmuniversity Babelsberg (DE), IFAI – Institute for Art and Innovation (DE)
This project is part of the Ars Electronica Garden Potsdam. Can the expertise of filmmaking and art creation help solve current ecological problems? We believe in the co-creation of new narratives to achieve global climate goals. By blending art, film, scientific and artistic research we establish new formats for appropriate ways of thinking and doing to tackle current challenges. Global problems must be solved collectively including Citizen Power. Backed up by science, we understand the mediums of film and art as avant-garde, mind-opening, and as a multiplier for new ideas.
