worldwide
Since the Prix Ars Electronica began in 1987, computer animations have been among the essential elements of our annual worldwide media art competition. The awarded works selected by a jury of experts from among thousands of submissions do not only fascinate the visitors of the renowned Ars Electronica Festival every year. With the “Ars Electronica Animation Festival on Tour”, we’re presenting a selection of outstanding animations for educational institutions, film festivals and cultural organizations together with the participating artists and in cooperation with the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs.
Like so many other art and culture events, the 2020 Ars Electronica Animation Festival is faced with a great challenge due to the COVID19 pandemic. As every year, the entries in the Computer Animation category of the Prix Ars Electronica serve as the foundation for the screening program. This year’s 930 submissions once again provide an excellent basis for a survey of current digital filmmaking from the fields of art, science, research, and animation-film schools.
This year featured an impressive constellation of themes that raise questions about the far-reaching effects of human behavior on the environment as well as about technological developments like social media, deepfakes, and AI. Particularly striking were sensitive, humorous works on these topics that show alternatives to dystopian universes. In its statement, the jury especially stressed the idea of the “female gaze,” which was reflected on the one hand in the way female artists regard current issues, and on the other in the manner in which they utilize their technical tools to challenge a system of dominant values.
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Credit: Keida Mascaro
Credit: Rachel Rossin
Credit: DEPART
Credit: Iresa Cho, Zhang Riwen, Max Hattler
Credit: Rory O´Driscoll
Credit: Huang Hsin-Chien
Credit: Reinhold Bidner
Credit: Huang Hsin-Chien
Infinitely Yours
Creation, animation, and performance: Miwa Matreyek (US), All Music: Morgan Sorne (US)
Prix Ars Electronica 2020 / Golden Nica
09:03
Recursive Truth, Rachel Rossin (US)
Prix Ars Electronica 2020 / Honorary Mention
02:55
The Entropy Gardens (VR screen capture), DEPART (AT)
Prix Ars Electronica 2020 / Honorary Mention
08:55
Serial Parallels, Max Hattler (DE/HK)
Prix Ars Electronica 2020 / Honorary Mention
09:00
Underground Circuit, Yuge Zhou 周雨歌 (CN)
Prix Ars Electronica 2020 / Honorary Mention
04:14
This Means More, Nicolas Gourault (FR)
Prix Ars Electronica 2020 / Honorary Mention
23:55
In Her Boots, Kathrin Steinbacher (AT)
06:03
Bodyless (excerpt of VR screen capture), Hsin-Chien Huang (TW)
Sponsored by Taiwan Creative Content Agency
Prix Ars Electronica 2020 / Honorary Mention
05:00
Coming Home, Benjamin Swiczinsky (AT)
04:00
Thicc Seams, iheartblob (AT)
05:41
Time o´ the Signs, Reinhold Bidner (AT)
08:36
Since 1987, the Electronic Theatre has compiled a large number of submissions from all over the world, providing an up-to-the-minute survey of animation art in the context of technology and society. It impressively illustrates the dynamic development of artistic computer animation over the past three decades as well as the expansive growth of various fringe areas. A glance at the works selected this year shows a broad range, from animation in the context of performance and installations to real-time animation and multifaceted, subject-based discussions.
Credit: Keida Mascaro
Credit: Rachel Rossin
Credit: DEPART
Credit: Iresa Cho, Zhang Riwen, Max Hattler
Credit: Rory O´Driscoll
Credit: Huang Hsin-Chien
Credit: Reinhold Bidner
Credit: Huang Hsin-Chien
The program offers humorous and ingenious commentaries on social media, online dating, data mining, and surveillance capitalism, as well as infographics and data visualizations. A film experiment breaks down a border town into its individual parts, a photographic exploration opens new perspectives on the city of Hong Kong, and another experimental film examines the collective memory of soccer fans. Two Honorary Mentions this year went to VR projects, including a surreal experience based on the childhood memory of the director in Taiwan from around 1970. In an installation with a collage of hundreds of video clips taken in subway stations, the visitor is placed in the role of a voyeur in order to reflect on the cycle of everyday life.
This year’s Golden Nica winner combines live performance, sculpture, theater, and animation: the artist places her body at the center of the projection and invites us to reflect on the consequences of material affluence and climate change.
Infinitely Yours
Creation, animation, and performance: Miwa Matreyek (US)
All Music: Morgan Sorne (US)
Prix Ars Electronica 2020 / Golden Nica
09:03
Average Happiness, Maja Gehrig (CH)
Prix Ars Electronica 2020 / Award of Distinction
07:03
Bab Sebta, Randa Maroufi (MA/FR)
Prix Ars Electronica 2020 / Award of Distinction
19:00
Pile, Toby Auberg (SE)
Prix Ars Electronica 2020 / Honorary Mention
03:23
Recursive Truth, Rachel Rossin (US)
Prix Ars Electronica 2020 / Honorary Mention
02:55
Serial Parallels, Max Hattler (DE/HK)
Prix Ars Electronica 2020 / Honorary Mention
09:00
The Entropy Gardens (VR screen capture), DEPART (AT)
Prix Ars Electronica 2020 / Honorary Mention
08:55
This Means More Nicolas Gourault (FR)
Prix Ars Electronica 2020 / Honorary Mention
23:55
#21xoxo, Sine Özbilge (TR), Imge Özbilge (TR)
Prix Ars Electronica 2020 / Honorary Mention
09:50
Underground Circuit, Yuge Zhou 周雨歌 (CN)
Prix Ars Electronica 2020 / Honorary Mention
04:14
The Sky is on Fire, Emmanuel van der Auwera (BE)
Prix Ars Electronica 2020 / Honorary Mention
15:21
Bodyless (excerpt of VR screen capture), Hsin-Chien Huang (TW)
Sponsored by Taiwan Creative Content Agency
Prix Ars Electronica 2020 / Honorary Mention
05:00
Toomas Beneath the Valley of the Wild Wolves, Chintis Lundgren (EE)
Prix Ars Electronica 2020 / Honorary Mention
18:00
The Prix Ars Electronica, organized by Ars Electronica Linz GmbH & Co KG, is made possible by support from the City of Linz and the CyberArts Exhibition of the prize-winning works is supported by OÖ Landes-Kultur GmbH. Special Thanks for additional support go to KulturKontakt Austria/OeAD, MIC – managing international customs & trade compliance, and University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria, Hagenberg Campus. The Ars Electronica Animation Festival 2020 on Tour screens a selection of outstanding films submitted to the Computer Animation category Prix Ars Electronica 2020. This tour was produced in collaboration and with special thanks to the Austrian Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs.
