While it may not be obvious judging from current news around the world, finding beacons of hope is by no means difficult. In fact, they are everywhere – in our immediate neighbourhood and on the other side of the world. During this year’s festival, we want to bring them into the spotlight, show what they are fighting for and how, and find out what gives them hope. Meet the people who are working to make public spaces more accessible for children on the neurodivergent spectrum, rethinking Ghana’s approach to electronic waste, or exploring how art and design are being used in Jordanian refugee camps to restore agency and humanity. Let them be an inspiration and carry the proverbial spark of hope forward into your own life.
Projects
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Art + Science Exhibition
The Art & Science exhibition at the JKU MED Campus is designed to make complex scientific concepts both accessible and engaging. Through interactive displays, workshops and performances, the festival fosters a vibrant dialogue between disciplines, encouraging attendees to explore how art and science can together challenge existing paradigms, drive innovation and expand our understanding of…
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ARTIFACTS FOR A SCUBA DIVING UTOPIA
NMASA Design / Javier Masa (SE)
Speculative design solutions for the environmental challenges of the diving sector.
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ASD Publics: Playable cities for all
Blanca Calvo Boixet (ES), Raquel Colacios (ES)
ASD Publics and PAtB are pioneering initiatives aimed at enhancing the design and accessibility of public spaces for neurodiverse children, particularly those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It employs a collaborative co-creation methodology involving autistic children, families, urban practitioners, policymakers, and autism experts.
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Cold Call: Time Theft as Avoided Emissions
Sam Lavigne (US), Tega Brain (AU)
Cold Call: Time Theft as Avoided Emissions is an unconventional carbon offsetting scheme that applies strategies of worker sabotage to the fossil fuel industry.
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Crip Sensorama
Puneet Jain (IN), Yesica Duarte (AR)
Re-imagining XR with (and for) People with Sensorimotor Disabilities Crip Sensorama is a multisensory, interactive XR experience where audience members move, navigate, and interact in VR/AR environments using a set of mouth gestures as a narrative around disability; art and culture unfolds itself. The chosen set of mouth gestures which are developed to enable people…
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Design to Live
Azra Aksamija & MIT Future Heritage Lab (US)
This project demonstrates how Syrian refugees at the Azraq Camp in Jordan use art and design to transform their environment, restoring humanity amid deprived circumstances. Featuring more than 20 innovative projects, it showcases design as a world-making practice and as a tool for reclaiming agency and hope. From vertical gardens to privacy-enhancing structures, these creations…
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Do Algorithms Care?
Amanda Bennetts (AU), Johanna Einsiedler (AT)
Do Algorithms Care? is a collaboration between artist Amanda Bennetts and data scientist Johanna Einsiedler. The project is realized in an installation that mimics a tech store, turning a critical lens on the commercialization of bio data. Using the duo’s open-source DIY smartwatches and interactive data interface, they explore the predictive potential of personal data…
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Frischer Wind
Emma Gruber (AT), Mary Mayrhofer (AT), Linda Michelitsch (AT), Konstantin Redl (AT)
Young people face great uncertainty. In our state of permanent crisis, people discuss, argue, and some resign themselves to the situation. In the twilight of democracy, however, the debate about change is conspicuously silent. Yet this is what must take place now. Do we need change? Is change possible? And if so, how? The audience…
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Hack the Hat
Parisa Ayati (IR), Markus Schedl (AT), Shahed Masoudian (IR), Deepak Kumar (IN), Gustavo Escobedo (PE), Anna Hausberger (AT), Gerald Gruber (AT), Ghazal Hosseini (IR), Dominik Baumann (AT), Stefan Brandl (AT), Oleg Lesota (RU), Michael Preisach (AT)
Hack the Hat is an interactive experience highlighting the frustrations of AI-driven recruitment. You will mentor Merlin Kepler, a wizard graduate, by modifying a CV to pass the test of a magical screening hat. This gamified project explores hidden biases in AI systems, encouraging reflection on the impact of automated decision-making in job recruitment.
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HOPE: the touch of many
Theme Exhibition
During the five days of the festival, the theme exhibition inhabits the architecture of the POSTCITY’s bunker and unfolds as a shared space and a contact zone. It is a tapestry of conceptual, sensual and emotional journeys through and within artistic inquiries and research domains. It is also an interface that reveals the collaborative and…
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Into the E-Metropolis
Akwasi Bediako Afrane (GH), Anwar Sadat Mohammed (GH), Cyrus Khalatbari (FR/CA)
Into the E-Metropolis is a workshop-based initiative that focuses on reshaping the narrative of Ghana’s relationship with electronic waste.
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Linz Center of Mechatronics (AT) Shadowgram: Collective visions on sustainability and circular economy
A mechathon approach by Linz Center of Mechatronics and the Ars Electronica Futurelab Ars Electronica Futurelab’s innovative social brainstorming Shadowgram offers a unique blend of creativity and practicality, providing an engaging platform for collecting inspiring and thought-provoking projects. Together with the Linz Center of Mechatronics, Ars Electronica is inviting audiences this year to share their hope-giving…
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Low Carbon Chinatown
Ling Tan (UK/SG)
Low Carbon Chinatown is an interactive urban intervention, participatory platform and meal-as-performance, founded on AI and data science, addressing the Climate Crisis through the lens of global agri-food systems. With Asian Chinese diasporic food culture as a starting point—for its popularity and perceived high-carbon footprint due to imports—the project engages large groups of East and…
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Reassembling Bolts of Care
Julie-Michèle Morin (CA)
Care is vital for fostering solidarity, yet it also serves as an essential resource for sustaining a capitalist society. These tensions between care as an exploited resource and the emergence of a new market for robotic care demand critical scrutiny. How do we nurture and care for technologies deployed in the care field? Reassembling Bolts…
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Revolution Refridge
Rojava Center for Democratic Technology & Dani Ploeger (AANES /SY)
Revolution Refridge is a cooling technology for socialist anarchist futures, developed in the context of the Rojava Revolution in North-East Syria. The device integrates historical refrigeration methods with contemporary solar power, drawing from the aesthetics of sci-fi and regional folklore.
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S+T+ARTS Exhibition
The STARTS exhibition sheds light on the impressive and wide-ranging roles of artistic and creative communities, showcasing their potential to act as inspirations and driving forces during these times and beyond. From individual artists to larger institutional efforts, the exhibition highlights projects and initiatives that are actively working to bring about change through their innovative…
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Soft Collision
Anna Schaeffner (FR)
Soft Collision (2024) looks at the potential of safe physical interaction by embracing collision rather than avoiding it. A deformable, pneumatic membrane which serves as a tangible interface to foster direct manipulation and live programming makes interactions more intuitive and inclusive. The intensive collaboration between the artist and technical partners has been crucial in moving…
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Stone Printing
Isaac Monté (BE)
With Stone Printing I redefine the possibilities of 3D printing by introducing a novel approach that is not only environmentally friendly but also artistically innovative. At the heart of Stone Printing is a self-developed cutting-edge, eco-conscious material. This is developed from CaCO3, a byproduct of the limestone industry.
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Young Artist Space—Should the tide be turned?
Otelo eGen (AT)
The Young Artist Space is a dynamic open space and art hub for young artists and cultural practitioners at the Ars Electronica Festival 2024. This space invites them to reflect, share and discuss the diverse artistic impressions of the festival and it offers numerous possibilities for use.
Events
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Artificial Physical Intelligence
Jan Zuiderveld (NL)
Transforming LLMs into Physically Embodied Beings.In this workshop, we will explore the essentials of Large Language Models (LLMs), covering the basics of their inner workings, training objectives, and how these relate to effective prompting strategies.
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Data for the People
Doris Allhutter (AT), Astrid Mager (AT)
Urban life is diverse, and so are our visions of what the future of cities should look like. Digital city twins and city dashboards offer interactive encounters with the city and can help us shape urban futures together.
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Frischer Wind
Mary Mayrhofer (AT), Konstantin Redl (AT), Emma Gruber (AT), Linda Michelitsch (AT)
Young people face great uncertainty. In our state of permanent crisis, people discuss, argue, and some resign themselves to the situation. In the twilight of democracy, however, the debate about change is conspicuously silent. Yet this is what must take place now. Do we need change? Is change possible? And if so, how? The audience…
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Going green! Stories of reinvention, disruption and systemic change to reclaim our future
Studiotopia Day Conference
The Studiotopia Day Conference takes this year’s theme “HOPE—who will turn the tide” as a starting point to look at inspiring and hope-giving efforts made by companies, start-ups, initiatives, artists and policy makers to mitigate and fight dystopian prospects of our future on this febrile planet. The second day of the theme symposium brings together…
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H-O-P-E
Kennedy+swan (DE), Max Hattler (DE/HK), Jan Bitzer (DE), BORA MURMURE (FR), Alessandro Bavari (IT), Paul Valentin (DE), Inferstudio (AU)
Hope is a powerful, yet often too ambiguous concept. In a world beset by rampant climate change and societal disruptions, coupled with uncertainty about our ability to influence the future, hope remains crucial.
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Reclaim, Relearn, Resist: Strategies and Practices for the Future of Digital
S+T+ARTS Day Conference
This year’s STARTS Day Conference sets out to re-tell the story of inevitable technological progress as contingent and contextual, the result of decisions dictated by particular desires, interests or preferences. To back up this narrative, we spotlight brave initiatives and projects that open up other paths and bifurcations on the road of technological progress that…
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Toguna World and The Sanctuary of Dreams
Pierre-Christophe Gam (FR)
Woven around the Five Pillars of IFA — an ancient divination system from West Africa — the two-hour ritual explores the possibilities of how we could Eat, Play, Dream, Pray, and Love in an ideal future.