One Day on Earth at the Ars Electronica Center Linz

“One Day on Earth” at the Ars Electronica Center
Participate in “One Day on Earth” / Wednesday, 12/12/2012 / 9 AM-5 PM
Deep Space LIVE Special: / Wednesday, 12/12/2012 / 6:30-8 PM

(Linz, December 5, 2012) On Wednesday, 12/12/2012, the Ars Electronica Center will feature an extraordinary motion picture project, one created on 10/10/2010 by a cast & crew of 19,000 people worldwide who filmed touching moments, triumphs and tragedies, or just ordinary elements of everyday life, and uploaded their clips to a website set up especially for that purpose. American artist Kyle Ruddick then edited the submitted footage into a feature-length film entitled “One Day on Earth.” On 12/12/2012, the next installment goes into production. Once again, all are invited to take part. From 9 AM to 5 PM, visitors to the Ars Electronica Center can shoot their own clips in the Museum of the Future and thereby contribute to this worldwide endeavor. Infotrainers will be on hand throughout the day to offer advice and assistance. Then at 6:30 PM, the 2010 “One Day on Earth” will be the main attraction of a Deep Space LIVE Special.

Plus, from December 15, 2012 to January 27, 2013, “One Day on Earth” will be screened every Saturday and Sunday at 4 PM in the Ars Electronica Center’s Seminar Room.

A Portrait of Our World

Once 19,000 people worldwide had uploaded their video clips shot on 10/10/2010 to onedayonearth.org/, it was time for Kyle Ruddick to get busy. He viewed thousands of hours of footage in assembling his portrait of the world. Piece by piece this mosaic image took shape, a wide-ranging cinematic depiction of a day in the life of this planet. “One Day on Earth” is made up of many minor episodes of everyday life, moments of supreme joy and the most profound desperation. Kyle Ruddick shows that no matter where and how we live, our wishes and dreams just like our fears and worries are things we all have in common.

A vision …

The idea that led to “One Day on Earth” came to Ruddick during a visit to a World Music Festival, where he saw and heard musicians from all over the world and thought: “Couldn’t this also be expressed in the form of a film?” This concept persisted and soon morphed into a clear vision. He dreamt of a film that shows people in every country on Earth and gives an account of how they live. Every person should be able to contribute his or her own story. What Ruddick had in mind was nothing less than a global undertaking involving thousands of human beings worldwide, and would result in a picture of our world the likes of which had never been seen before. It wasn’t long before Kyle’s vision was getting some support from an enthused Brandon Litman, who immediately began setting up the network.

… becomes reality.

The duo racked up their first big success by signing on a major partner, the United Nations, with its global network that opened up a whole new world of possibilities. Nearly all countries on Earth were now accessible; everywhere, project participants could be recruited and equipped with video cameras. At www.onedayonearth.org, Ruddick and Litman documented the ongoing progress of their endeavor and took advantage of every opportunity that came their way to encourage folks to get involved. Then one day, they received mail from South Africa. Michael Struwig had happened upon “One Day on Earth” online, shot his own personal trailer, sent it in and asked what they thought of it. Now, it wasn’t just that the submitted video was extremely good; it also made something very clear: Their message was being received, and there were people out there who had already gotten to work on “One Day on Earth.” The project had taken off! No fewer than 19,000 people took part on 10/10/2010. The next year, the call went out again. And once again, thousands of human beings collaborated on documenting “One Day on Earth” on 11/11/2011. This year’s third installment is set for 12/12/2012. The aim is to motivate even more participants this time around.

One Day at the Ars Electronica Center

On December 12, 2012, visitors to the Ars Electronica Center will be able to produce contributions using their own digital cameras and smartphones or with equipment provided on site. The short films they shoot can either be uploaded to the project website or made available to the AEC. The collected clips will be edited into a film entitled “One Day at the Ars Electronica Center” and then uploaded to www.onedayonearth.org. Infotrainers will be on duty throughout the day to solve problems and offer hands-on help.

press release One Day on Earth / PDF

Photo:

One Day on Earth / onedayonearth.org / Printversion / Album


One Day on Earth – Trailer