press material press conference Ars Electronica

[anna balint]

  From:   "Martin Brunnbauer" <martin.brunnbauer at trimedia.at>

  Hello,

  with this e-mail I send you press material from the Ars Electronica press
  conference.


  For more Information you can contact me per mail
  (martin.brunnbauer at trimedia.at) or phone (+43 1 524 43 00).

  Best regards,

  Martin Brunnbauer



  *****
  Prix Ars Electronica Features a New Category in 2004

  Vienna (December 17, 2003) - The premiere of the Digital Communities
  category featuring an awards ceremony and exhibition of outstanding projects
  in New York will highlight the 2004 Prix Ars Electronica. A total of seven

  Golden Nica prizes as well as Awards of Distinction and Honorary Mentions
  will be handed out in six categories. Another innovation this year is a
  spin-off of the Prix Ars Electronica’s u19 freestyle computing category:
  "the next idea" competition honors outstanding concepts for not-yet-produced

  projects by artists age 19-27. Entries may be submitted for Prix Ars
  Electronica consideration from January 12 to March 12, 2004.

  To mark Ars Electronica’s 25th anniversary, the Prix Ars Electronica is
  expanding the international scope of its activities and focusing on
  phenomena of tremendous current relevance to Information Society. The new
  Digital Communities category will recognize exemplary initiatives that are
  advancing the openness of Information Society. In the words of Ars
  Electronica Artistic Director Gerfried Stocker: “The projects in this new
  category are utilizing modern technologies to implement a vision of new,
  open and democratic structures. They are bringing people closer to one
  another, creating means of access to information, and making a tangible
  contribution to improving the quality of life and promoting social
  coexistence.” This category is made possible by SAP, the world’s leading
  supplier of business software. Examples of the activities on which it will
  focus include collective “blogging“ (gathering opinions, information and
  links) in the Internet, spontaneously congregating “flash mobs” (large-scale
  assemblies organized online or via cell phone), learning, gaming, and fan
  communities, e-government portals, and innovative developmental projects in
  so-called Third World countries. The prizes in this category will be awarded
  by a jury made up of leading international experts including Joichi Ito,
  Shanthi Kalathil, Howard Rheingold and Oliviero Toscani. The winners will be
  singled out for recognition in June 2004 at a ceremony in New York, where
  their projects will then go on public exhibition. The prizes in the other
  “classic” categories will be handed out as in the past at the Prix Ars
  Electronica Gala in Autumn 2004 in Linz.

  Prix Ars Electronica - Europe’s Showcase of the Best of Cyberart
  Seven Golden Nicas-the coveted statuettes presented to the grand
  prizewinners-as well as a total of 130,000 Euros in prize money will be
  awarded in the following six categories in 2004: Digital Communities, Net
  Vision, Interactive Art, Computer Animation/Visual Effects, Digital Musics
  and u19 freestyle computing.

  Expanded Category for Young People
  The u19 freestyle computing category is being expanded in 2004. This
  competition is for works of animation, Internet projects, sounds, graphics,
  software and even robots created by computer freaks and novices alike age 19
  and under. Besides the Golden Nica, special merchandise prizes will be
  awarded to exceptional young artists in different age groups.
  Plus, a new category focusing on ideas for not-yet-produced projects by
  artists age 19-27 is being launched this year. The aim of "the next idea"
  competition is to discover concepts for tomorrow in young minds today. The
  winner will receive a grant as well as the opportunity to bring his/her
  project to fruition as Artist in Residence at the Ars Electronica Futurelab.

  Committed Partners Make Visions Reality
  The firms that have supported Prix Ars Electronica over the years are
  setting an example of how the private sector’s commitment to enhancing
  cultural life can nurture the creation of contemporary art. On the
  importance of outstanding relationships with corporate sponsors, Gerfried
  Stocker said: “Strong associates like SAP, Telekom Austria and voestalpine
  enable us not only to carry on the Prix in the form that has been so
  successful up to now but also to enhance it with important, innovative
  themes and aspects.” Taking a place this year besides Telekom Austria, long-
  time benefactor of the “classic” Prix categories, and voestalpine is SAP,
  sponsor of "the next idea" and a partner that will make a substantial
  contribution to sustaining and strengthening the innovativeness and dynamism
  of the Prix Ars Electronica.

  The Prix Ars Electronica
  The Prix Ars Electronica is being held for the eighteenth time in 2004. This
  cyberarts competition has been conceived as an open platform for a wide

  range of artistic disciplines in the digital media domain at the interface
  of art, technology and society. With more than 21,000 works submitted since
  1987 by 17,000 participants representing 87 countries, the Prix Ars
  Electronica has become the most important and successful international

  showcase of the best of digital media art.

  Contact
  Wolfgang A. Bednarzek
  Pressesprecher / Press Officer
  AEC Ars Electronica Center Linz, Hauptstraße 2, 4040 Linz, Austria

  tel ++43.732.7272-38. fax ++43.732.7272-638. wolfgang.bednarzek at aec.at
  Press Lounge at Ars Electronica: http://www.aec.at/press