The OK im OÖ Kulturquartier has been presenting the CyberArts exhibition since 1998. As a showcase for the Prix Ars Electronica winners, it is an excellent platform from which to observe current developments and trends in our digital age, with a special focus on their social and economic impact. The selected works exemplify the social dynamics and issues that are dominating today’s discourse.
The Prix Ars Electronica is considered the world’s most important showcase of excellence in digital media art. Its history impressively documents how quickly the digital revolution has progressed since 1987, when Hannes Leopoldseder had the idea of launching a generously endowed, multidisciplinary computer art competition. The competition initially had three categories: Computer Graphics, Computer Animation, and Computer Music. In 1990, Interactive Art enhanced the array, and a category especially for children and young people was introduced in 1998. A prize for Digital Communities premiered in 2004, followed by Hybrid Art in 2007, Visionary Pioneers of Media Art in 2014, and the new category Artificial Intelligence & Life Art in 2019. Currently, the Prix Ars Electronica has seven categories: Computer Animation, Digital Musics & Sound Art, Artificial Intelligence & Life Art, Interactive Art +, Digital Communities, u19 – CREATE YOUR WORLD, and Visionary Pioneers of Media Art, whereby four of these categories alternate on a biennial basis and are awarded with a “Golden Nica,” In 2020 a total of 3,209 entries from 90 countries were submitted for prize consideration to the world’s most time-honored media arts competition.
