The Ars Electronica Center offers its visitors something that can’t be found anywhere else in the world: A 16 by 9 meter wall projection, an equally large floor projection, laser tracking and 3D animations make the Deep Space 8K something very special. As every year, special projects, animations and award-winning works in the media.We’ve put together a preview of the comprehensive festival program to give you an overview and take you into a virtual world!
DARV_Abandoned Land
DARV_Abandoned Land is an intermedia performance that connects the analogue and digital world. Performers worldwide interact with large-format objects and video projections. Exhausted utopias, failed social mechanisms and ideologies are embodied, explored and finally abandoned.
Immersify
St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna was measured by AE’s Futurelab in cooperation with RIEGL Laser Measuremenst Systems with more than 20 billion laser points. This interactive journey through the translucent sacred building in stereoscopic 8K dimension is the magnificent result of this measurement. The images of the Stephansdom were dedicated as part of the European R&D project Immersify, which is working on the development of the next generation of immersive media.
Cooperative Aesthetics
For the third time, the time-based and interactive media art department of the Art University of Linz is presenting 13 new projects as part of the festival on cooperative aesthetics. The interaction between all users, their communication and collaboration are essential to this concept. The social component is emphasized by the fact that people interact with each other during the performance.
Creative Harmony
Creative Harmony offers both a virtual and a spiritual journey, allowing the viewer to shape the virtual landscape through gestures. Through letting go, music and virtual dancers, viewers will be able to connect with their bodies and with nature.
Geophysics
Experience archaeology in a new way. Today there are several methods that go beyond the typical technique of archaeological excavations. GPR (Ground Peretating Radar), drones or 3D laser scan recording – all these methods are used for research of excavations purposes. The expert Dr. Stefan Traxler (OÖ Landes-Kultur GmbH) will give you an overview of the ongoing projects on ancient Rome.
Pianographique
Philip Glass’ trusted pianist Maki Namekawa performs his work “Passacaglia” with harmonic visualisation matching the piano notes in the Deep Space 8K. The performance of the piece by the US-American musician and composer also celebrates its Austrian premiere on this day! Cori O’lan additionally underscores the performance with completely new visualizations.
Joep Beving, a successful Dutch composer, expressed his perception of these works and their visualization with these words:
„I imagined it as a journey into the cosmos, far away from the Self where it had begun. In search of what is fundamental in reality, beyond what is directly perceptible. The outer journey reflects the journey within, just as the structure of our inner life reflects the macro-cosmos. As soon as this idea reaches the level of connection it deepens beyond imagination.“
This is the result of many years of artistic collaboration between Maki Namekawa and Ars Electronica under its Artistic Director Gerfried Stocker.
Jan van Eyck
High-resolution paintings by Jan van Eycks, the most famous representative of Dutch painting, popular artwork, the Ghent Altarpiece, as well as other images by KIKIRPA for the VERONA project (Van Eyck research in OpeN access) will be presented. The lecture will be given by the renowned art historian Till-Holger Borchert, who is an expert on Van Eyck and director of the Musea Brugge.
Mirage
In Mirage – an interactive concept of the FH St.Pölten – visitors find themselves in an alien world where they share a story that appeals to several senses. Up to 16 people can actively participate in this meeting. In this abstract-looking world, visitors have to solve hidden paths to a portal cooperatively through teamwork and have to escape a variety of dangers.
You can read more about the Ars Electronica Festival on this website, moreover, under the motto “Inside Festival” we have exciting new video contributions from all over the world for you every week, and on our social media channels we’re also constantly giving outlooks and insights into what to expect this year.