Just before the press conference… Photo: Martin Hieslmair
No fewer than 2.703 projects were submitted for the Prix Ars Electronica 2014, one of the most popular awards for media art. In early May, an international jury evaluated the projects from 77 countries, one month later the winners were announced during a press conference on June 2, 2014, at the voestalpine Stahlwelt in Linz.
Visionary Pioneers of Media Art
Photo: rubra
Alone 117 nominations were recorded for the newly created category “Visionary Pioneers of Media Art”, which brings a dazzling person of the media art scene into the light. 2014 it is the British artist Roy Ascott – among other things he is responsible for one of the first online art projects, in a time as there was any public mention of the Internet or digital communities.
Computer Animation / Film / VFX
The boundaries between design, animation, sculpture, fashion and architecture blur in „Walking City“ by Universal Everything. The 7.5-minute animation recieved a Golden Nica in the category “Computer Animation / Film / VFX”. “Box” by Bot & Dolly and “Shadowland” by Kazuhiro Goshima each received an Award of Distinction.
Interactive Art
Photo: Paolo Cirio
You have always wanted to start a company at the Cayman Islands and benefit from the same tax advantages as other corporations? “Loophole for All” by the activist Paolo Cirio makes it possible – the artistic reference to the problem of global tax evasion was awarded a Golden Nica in the category “Interactive Art”. “Balance From Within” by Jacob Tonski and “Disarming Corruptor” by Matthew Plummer-Fernandez each received an Award of Distinction.
Digital Communities
Photo: Project Fumbaro Eastern Japan
Another Golden Nica recieved the online platform “Project Fumbaro” for its support to link voluntary helpers together with the needs of victims of the natural disaster in Japan 2011. Two Awards of Distinction in this category: The database “Freemuse” is devoted to the freedom of speech in song texts, “Goteo“, however, allows crowdfunding for common goods.
[the next idea] voestalpine Art and Technology Grant
The Golden Nica of “[the next idea] voestalpine Art and Technology Grant” goes to BlindMaps by Markus Schmeiduch, Andrew Spitz and Ruben van der Vleuten – they have developed an interface for visually impaired people which accompanies them in cities and thanks to crowdsourcing they get their optimal paths to their destination.
u19 – CREATE YOUR WORLD
Sarah Oos at the press conference. Photo: Martin Hieslmair
But even young media artists under 19 years were awarded: Sarah Oos received a Golden Nica for her video editing “Femme Chanel – Emma Fenchel” in the category “u19 – CREATE YOUR WORLD”. An Award of Distinction went to “(e)motion-mirror” by Richard Sadek and “Smart Clock” by Jonas Bodingbauer.
All winners…
The press conference took place on the site of voestalpine. Photo: Martin Hieslmair
A complete list of Golden Nicas, Awards of Distinction and Honorary Mentions for the year 2014 can be found on https://ars.electronica.art/prix/en/gewinner/
What are the next steps? Get a picture of many of the award-winning media art works during the Cyberarts exhibition at the 2014 Festival Ars Electronica: “C … what it takes to change” begins on September 4, 2014. At a gala event in early September the winners will be awarded personally, too. Until then, we will provide you with interesting interviews of individual projects here on the Ars Electronica Blog and on our social media channels. See you soon!