Press release including a curatiorial statement of Gerfried Stocker pdf
Photo album Ars Electronica Festival 2022
Photo album Best of Ars Electronica Festival
Website Welcome to Planet B
Press Accreditation
Ars Electronica Blog
(Linz, 7.4.2022) Ars Electronica 2022 will take place from September 7 to 11, on the campus of the Johannes Kepler University Linz, at the Linz University of Art, at the LENTOS Museum of Art, at the Francisco Carolinum and OK in the OÖ Kulturquartier, at the Anton Bruckner Private University, at the Atelierhaus Salzamt, at the Stadtwerkstatt, at the Tabakfabrik…and, of course, at the Ars Electronica Center. In 2022, Linz will once again host a “Festival for Art, Technology and Society” where participants from science, business, the creative and art scenes from the local region and around the world will contribute their perspectives. “This broad collaboration is a true example of ‘Linz quality,’” says Gerfried Stocker, artistic director of Ars Electronica. “Nowhere else is it so natural for artists, researchers, entrepreneurs and activists to collaborate on a joint event. This coming together of very different people and their perspectives, which has grown over decades, gives the festival its unique character – and contributes significantly to its international appeal.” This year’s motto is “Welcome to Planet B – A different life is possible! But how?” and invites a delightful thought experiment: What if we had already mastered the great challenges of the 21st century? How would we then live (together) and what would characterize that society? And last but not least: What would our path there have looked like? What political, social, cultural and technological transformation would we have moved forward with, and how?
September 7 – 11, 2022: Come to Linz!
“After two years of virtually unrestrained experimentation with hybrid and virtual formats, Ars Electronica 2022 will once again present itself as a major physical event in Linz,” announces Gerfried Stocker. “In light of the just-published findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the pandemic-related cracks across our societies, the shattering war in Ukraine and the resulting global political upheavals, we consider it the order of the day to invite people from all over the world to Linz to talk about our future.” More than ever, Europe’s largest festival for art, technology and society sees itself first and foremost as a platform for interpersonal exchange that transcends borders. “Since 1979, we’ve been building bridges between disciplines, industries and cultures and getting people talking to each other — and it’s never been more important than it is today,” says Gerfried Stocker.
Ten festival locations in Linz
In 2022, a total of ten locations in the Linz city area will be used. One hotspot will again be “Kepler’s Garden” on the sprawling campus of Johannes Kepler University Linz, while a second major festival hub will be formed by LENTOS Kunstmuseum, Kunstuniversität, Atelierhaus Salzamt, Stadtwerkstatt and Ars Electronica Center in the city center. There are also the Tobacco Factory, Francisco Carolinum and OK Linz, as well as the Anton Bruckner Private University on the Pöstlingberg.
A Kaleidoscope of Sustainable Future Perspectives
All of these locations will become settings that tell about life on “Planet B”. They become festival gardens in which artists, researchers and activists each use their own means and methods to sketch out how we can shape our world sustainably. Obviously, students from the JKU in Linz will be making different proposals for our future than young media artists from Latin America or Eastern Europe, who will be presenting their work at the LENTOS Kunstmuseum. At the same time, it forms the starting point for an exciting discussion that will not only revolve around the decisions we want to make on the way to “Planet B,” but above all, around the question of how we arrive at these decisions.
Making technology part of the solution
A central theme of the 5-day staging of “Planet B” will be technology. Within the framework of major European initiatives such as S+T+ARTS or Studiotopia, artists and scientists will once again show how we can shape the development and use of technology in such a way that not only a few, but we as a society as a whole benefit from it. Among many other best-practice examples, the “S+T+ARTS Center Upper Austria” initiated in 2021 will be presented for the first time; Greiner, the JKU, the Innovation Capital City of Linz and Ars Electronica are working together with the artists Kat Austen (UK/DE) and Fara Peluso (IT/DE) on the topic of regional circular economy.
A festival on “Planet B”
Finally, what would a festival like Ars Electronica look like on a “Planet B”? In our opinion, it’s a certified “Green Event” with everyone — hosts, participants and visitors — working together to make its ecological footprint as small as possible. What these contributions actually look like is currently being worked out with partners such as Brantner – Green Solutions or Europe’s largest non-profit IT company AfB (Arbeit für Menschen mit Behinderung). The focus is on “mobility,” “energy, water, sanitation,” “food,” “waste,” “event location,” “event technology,” “social responsibility” and “communication.”
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Taking a break in Kepler’s Gardens / Photo: vog.photo / Printversion / Fotoalbum
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Prix Forum / Photo: vog.photo / Printversion / Fotoalbum
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Inside Bruegel / Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien / Photo: Ars Electronica – Robert Bauernhansl / Printversion / Fotoalbum
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Regional STARTS Center Upper Austria / Circular Records / Kat Austen (UK), Fara Peluso (IT) / Photo: Fara Peluso / Printversion / Fotoalbum
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DEMYSTIFY AI! / Serum 13 by LIT Robopsychology Lab JKU Linz (AT) / Photo: Ars Electronica – Robert Bauernhansl / Printversion / Fotoalbum
