Under the Aegis of the European Commission
Ars Electronica Announces the STARTS Prize
Ars Electronica Announces the STARTS Prize / PDF
(Linz/Brussels, February 1, 2016) On behalf of the European Commission, Ars Electronica hereby issues an open call for entries to a competition that will determine the first recipients of STARTS, prestigious and—with two €20,000 grants—highly endowed awards. Expressly encouraged are innovative projects at the interface of science, technology and art. Entries can now be submitted online. The deadline is March 4th. There are no entry fees. The prizewinners selected by an international jury will be announced on April 11th and publically honored at the Prix Ars Electronica Gala on September 9th.
Innovation in and for Europe
Science, technology and arts (STARTS for short) limn a nexus at which insightful observers have identified extraordinarily high potential for innovation. And innovation is precisely what’s called for if we’re to master the social, ecological and economic challenges that Europe will be facing in the near future. In this STARTS Prize initiative, the European Commission’s focus is on projects and people that can make meaningful contributions to this effort. Here, art is assigned the role of catalyst that propagates scientific and technological knowledge and skills among the general public and triggers innovative processes. Accordingly, STARTS is emphasizing, on one hand, artistic works that influence or change the way we look at art, and, on the other hand, very promising forms of collaboration between the private sector and the world of art and culture. A prizewinning project will be singled out for recognition in both categories and each will be supported with a €20,000 grant. The projects will also be featured in an exhibition at the 2016 Ars Electronica Festival.
Ars Electronica Meets STARTS
Since 1979, Ars Electronica has been exploring the multifarious impacts that digitization and networking are making on our world. In going about this, art, technology and society are never scrutinized as discrete domains; instead, they’re considered as interrelated elements of a unified vision. Ars Electronica’s process of artistic reflection on explosive developments, its ongoing inquiry into alternative future scenarios and the framework circumstances, strategies and protagonists necessary for their emergence, as well as the ways and means inherent in all of these activities to encourage people to get actively involved in configuring our shared future are what make Ars Electronica the ideal partner of the STARTS program. The Ars Electronica Festival, a platform and showcase that has been making a name for itself worldwide since 1979, the Prix Ars Electronica competition that has honored excellence in media art annually since 1987, the Ars Electronica Center that premiered in 1996 as a Museum of the Future and educational facility, and an impressive array of successful joint ventures with partners in industry and commerce also contribute mightily to this effort.
Photo:
Myconnect / Fotocredit: Saša Spačal, Mirjan Švagelj, Anil Podgornik / Printversion /
Photo:
Nick Ervinck / Fotocredit: tom mesic / Printversion
Photo:
ESEL-Complain / Florian Born, Christoph Fraundorfer / Fotocredit: Florian Voggeneder / Printversion
