Here comes December! It’s Christmas and the year is coming to an end. There were ups and downs, sometimes beautiful events and sometimes sadness, and that’s what the harmony of Ars Electronica life consists of. You’ll find out what we’ve accomplished this year in this last review of 2021!
Harvest Time
Philipp Gartlehner from the Ars Electronica Center grew barley three months ago with the help of the Life Support System and harvested the crop in early December. The cost of growing one square meter of barley indoors came to the proud sum of 430 euros. This plant has grown up without ever having been in the wild. It survived because people and computers took care of it around the clock. Another reason why we really need to take care of our ecosystem.
There is no Planet B
In the final lecture, Hideaki Ogawa and Christoph Kremer, Managing Director of the Ars Electronica Center, introduced the new “There Is No Planet B” exhibition. How can we deal with climate change and other serious problems of the planet we live on? Together with Nicolas Naveau of the Ars Electronica Futurelab, they held a live session to reflect on what we need to do to solve these profound problems.
Christmas with a Future
Our highlight of December! The famous Nativity scene by Munich sculptor Sebastian Osterrieder from St. Mary’s Cathedral is a special highlight of Advent in Linz. Restaged as an interactive and audiovisual 3D experience, the Nativity scene is designed to conjure up pre-Christmas contemplation in the hearts of visitors. Fully restored and digitized for the first time, it will shine in all its glory this year, not only in the crypt of Linz Cathedral but also in Deep Space 8K at the Ars Electronica Center. With the completion of the digital restaging of the Virtual Nativity, the Ars Electronica Futurelab and St. Mary’s Cathedral are hitting the spirit of our times.
You can find more videos about the virtual crib here.
What a journey!
25 years of the Ars Electronica Futurelab – that calls for a celebration! Active and former members of the Futurelab, as well as artists and young participants in the Festival University, celebrated at the Ars Electronica Festival the anniversary extensively with “Futurelab Day“-including the new exhibition “Alchemists of the Future,” inspiring discussions, workshops and rousing evening events in Deep Space 8K. Here is a review from Futurelab Day:
Kepler celebrates birthday
The first two lectures will offer an overview of Kepler’s pioneering work in the fields of mechanical engineering, optics, mathematics, space, cosmology, music, physics, as well as his research on the year of Christ’s birth. But Kepler as a poet will also be presented. During all the lectures, Johannes Kepler himself repeatedly has his say: Johannes Stübler from the Kepler Observatory in Linz read out quotes and excerpts from his letters and works.
We say THANK YOU, and look forward to starting the new year with you!