You experienced 1979 live, know the new Ars Electronica Center from the very beginning, live in and around Linz and you know many of Ars Electronica’s companions not only by name? Then we’ve put together the best festival tips for all of Linz’s residents and companions – and for those who want to become one.
For the people of Linz in particular, the festival starts a day earlier: even before the festival officially starts, the local audience is invited to a first opening round, the Pre-Opening, on Wednesday evening. Four locations of Ars Electronica 2019 can be visited in advance: the St. Mary’s Cathedral (4 p.m.), the LENTOS Art Museum (5 p.m.), the University of Art and Design Linz (6.30 p.m.) and the new Ars Electronica Center (8 p.m.).
One of the stations of this Pre-Opening we would like to recommend to you again separately, because it is dedicated to you, the Linzers: In the city, with the city, for the city: “ARS and the City” is the motto of the show in the LENTOS Art Museum. The focus will be on legendary art projects of the past four decades, which today – and not only in Linz – are still a topic of discussion. In the auditorium of the LENTOS Art Museum, Uwe Rieger and Yinan Liu of the arc/sec Lab show “LightWing II”, a spectacular interactive installation that superimposes a kinetic construction with stereoscopic 3D projections and spatial sounds.
“ARS on the Wire” in the POSTCITY, the second part of the 40 year exhibition, focuses on the development of the net, from the beginnings of the WWW to 2019. The exhibition shows how the Internet evolved from a purely technical infrastructure to a social, public space and finally became the focal point of our society. The exhibition recalls that young “net artists” were already concerned with the structures of this new medium at the end of the 1970s and explored its potential. Even then, Ars Electronica in Linz was one of the venues for this groundbreaking artistic exploration…
As shown in the exhibition Ars and the City, the history of Ars Electronica is closely linked to a particular institution, both then and now: the Stadtwerkstatt!
Founded forty years ago, in 1979, as a collective of artists, the Stadtwerkstatt (STWST) – a lively and active cultural space – is proud of its independent structure. STWST48x5 STAY UNFINISHED, the 5th edition of the 48-hour showcase spectacle, brings 2019 critical producers and artists together to deal with the permanently unfinished. To draw attention to the unfinished archive of the Stadtwerkstatt on the occasion of its 40th anniversary, two nights of the UNFINISHED CLUB will take place under the titles TALK RE:TALK and ACT RE:ACT, each comprising five sessions and inviting the audience to stay awake in Linz from sunset until sunrise.
If you couldn’t be there then, but also if you were already there in 1979, a visit to the POSTCITY at the History Summit on Thursday would be a good idea: This year’s festival invites pioneers such as Hannes Leopoldseder, Herbert W. Franke, Christine Schöpf and other visionary minds on stage who played a decisive role in the design and development of this unique festival for art, technology and society. A round table with more than 30 speakers will examine the art forms and practices that have emerged over the past 40 years.
A landmark event during Ars Electronica and closely linked to its history is a very special one: The Visualized Klangwolke – celebrating its 40th anniversary this year – will be staged by David Pountney in 2019. The internationally acclaimed opera director and artistic director is a master of spectacular scenic effects, which he uses virtuously as a means of expression. Solar – Towards the Sun treats the relationship of mankind to the cosmic object Sun in five acts. At the same time, the Visualized Klangwolke is the bridge between the Ars Electronica Festival and the traditional Brucknerfest, the two largest festivals in Linz.
The tips will end on Sunday evening, although the festival will continue until Monday. With the “Episode by the River”, Ars Electronica, the Bruckner Orchestra and the Brucknerhaus invite you to pay homage to the very first Klangwolke. As in 1979, the starting point for this unique sound journey will be the orchestra concert in the Great Concert Hall of the Brucknerhaus. Its music, however, will not simply be transferred to the outside, to the powerful sound system of the Klangwolke, but will form the sound material for Wolfgang “Fadi” Dorninger, Ali Nikrang, Roberto Paci Dalò, Rupert Huber, Markus Poschner, Sam Auinger as well as Christian Fennesz and Lillevan, who will create new acoustic, analog and digital sound spaces from it.
This wasn’t enough and you are looking for more events and exhibitions? You can find the whole program on our website.
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