Photo: Tom Mesic
Late-summer temperatures made for a pleasant start of the 2014 Ars Electronica Festival on September 4. Future Innovators Summit participants gathered in the Arkadenhof at 10 AM for their first brunch.
Photo: Tom Mesic
Then the Innovators got down to business in the Akademisches Gymnasium. Working Groups A and B convened in two of the college preparatory school’s classrooms to work on their contributions to the Festival’s inquiry into the framework conditions conducive to change.
Photo: Tom Mesic
At the Lunchbox, they met mentor Robert Madelin, director in charge of the European Commission’s digital agenda. The lunch meeting was followed by an intensive working session. A similar lineup has been scheduled for the other working groups on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Photo: Martin Hieslmair
The Opening Parcours got underway on Friday morning at Device Art, the new exhibition in the Ars Electronica Center. Festivalgoers got to meet many of the artists personally. Once again, Mr. Touchy was on hand; he took a snapshot of anyone who touched him for at least 10 seconds. The exhibition is running until the end of June 2015 in the Ars Electronica Center.
Photo: Tom Mesic
The Parcours continued with the premiere of “Story Weaver” in Deep Space. This adaptation of an ancient Japanese legend features a performance by pianist Maki Namekawa and visuals by Emiko Ogawa. The work will be performed daily through Monday in Deep Space.
Photo: Tom Mesic
The next stop on the Opening Parcours’ itinerary was Linz’s Hauptplatz for the Campus Exhibitions starring Belgian art academy ARTS2 at Linz Art University and the showcase of Linz’s Interface Cultures program in Raumschiff. The undergrads personally presented their works to an audience that just kept getting bigger and bigger!
Photo: Florian Voggeneder
The Opening Parcours—curators, artists and all—continued on their way to the u19 – CREATE YOUR WORLD Festival City. The Akademisches Gymnasium is thus a hotbed of Future Innovators and young creatives.
Photo: Florian Voggeneder
From there, it wasn’t far at all to “Buddha on the Beach,” where art comes face-to-face with crisis. The question: Is there a solution to the contradictions inherent in our lives?
Photo: Florian Voggeneder
CyberArts 2014 opened at 6 PM. Roy Ascott, Visionary Pioneer Golden Nica recipient and frequent guest at Ars Electronica, was visibly moved, and also quite impressed by the prizewinning works that will be on display in the OK Center for Contemporary Art until September 14.
Photo: Florian Voggeneder
Sonotopia in Bischofshof conducted visitors into urban acoustic realms, the likes of which they’ve never experienced before.
Photo: Tom Mesic
There was big crowd on hand on the plaza in front of St. Mary’s Cathedral for the Festival’s opening event. Music by Magistratsmusik Linz and Taiwanese karaoke singer Dawang Huang set the mood for the visualizations of Archifon III and OscFluctuation projected onto the façade of the cathedral and the hotel next door. Festivalgoers can try it out for themselves every night through Sunday at the Dom Nightline.
Photo: Florian Voggeneder
Photo: Florian Voggeneder
Photo: Tom Mesic
The Dom Exhibit inside the cathedral features numerous installations as well as the performance by Mirage. And that was only Day 1! The complete program can be found on ars.electronica.art/c. Many more impressions of the festival can be found on our Flickr stream!