Ars Electronica History Day

The History Day conferences are dedicated to the anniversary celebrations of Ars Electronica. After 40 years in existence, we reflect on the various forms of digital media art that emerged during this time and were embedded and presented in the festival. Pioneers of artistic movements with strong impacts on the digital revolution from all around the globe will discuss outstanding ideas, practices and contributions from the intersection between art and technology.

Midlife Crisis of the Digital Revolution – Theme Conference

On Friday, the conference moves forward in time to explore current and future prospects of our increasingly digital world. Art and creativity have always been viewed as important contributors to ensuring that future technological implementations will happen under consideration of enlightened, critical and qualified perspectives.

European Platform for Digital Humanism - A conference by the European ARTificial Intelligence Lab

European ARTificial Intelligence Lab

The Sunday conference program will concentrate on European challenges to find a distinctly European approach to shaping our future. How can Europe guarantee that emerging technologies won’t lose touch with our humanity and humane values?

Prix Forum

One of the absolute highlights of every Ars Electronica is the opportunity to meet Prix Ars Electronica prize-winners and to attend Prix forums to hear the artists elaborate on their oeuvre and current work. Moderated by Prix Ars Electronica jurors, these discussions provide fascinating insights into this year’s categories: Computer Animation, Digital Musics & Sound Art and Artificial Intelligence & Life Art.

Expanded Animation – OUT OF THE BOX

Upper Austria University of Applied Sciences Hagenberg Campus (AT), Ars Electronica (AT)

In collaboration with the Upper Austria University of Applied Sciences’ Hagenberg Campus, the 7th Expanded Animation symposium carries on a process launched in 2013 — mapping the wide-ranging domain of animated worlds of imagery beyond the well-trodden paths. The symposium stays the course originally set at its inception, and presents theoretical positions and perspectives from the art world, the R&D field and the industrial sector.

Gallery Spaces Panels

At the Gallery Space Panels 2019, experts will discuss the transformation and future of the media art market. The interaction between science, art and the market will be analysed from a variety of perspectives in seven prominent discussion rounds.

STARTS Day

The STARTS Day focuses on the STARTS Initiative and offers insights into collaborative practices at the intersection of art, technology, science and industry. In different discursive formats and presentations, extraordinary examples from this field are presented and their implementations, methods and impacts identified.

Ars Electronica Art Thinking School / Future Innovators Summit

The Ars Electronica Art Thinking School is a new Festival program consisting of special guided tours, lectures, talks, workshops and actions to get inspired for inventing a better future by connecting creators, industries, governments, and citizens. Future Innovators Summit (FIS) is a comprehensive workshop format within the Ars Electronica Art Thinking School program.

Campus-Forum: Universities and their way to…

The universities are in crisis. Is that really still the case? Or is not our entire world off kilter if we trust predictions of global warming, the digitalization of our bodies and environment, and associated issues of privacy and civil rights?

Innovationsforum GET.Inspired

The power of individual technology groups and their exclusive role in shaping the future is increasingly subject to criticism. We are called upon to critically question and actively participate, instead of remaining passive victims of digital change. People and companies show how, by thinking against all rules, new paths can be taken outside the comfort zone.

Panel: Theatre in the Digital Age

How can digital technology add to the magical, theatrical moment? Digital theatre entails a multitude of approaches and perspectives.

AIxMusic Panels

Renata Schmidtkunz (DE)

Renata Schmidtkunz hosts four panel discussions in the summer refectory, prominently featuring Josef Penninger, Sophie Wennerscheid, Amanda Cox, Markus Poschner, and others.

ZusammenHelfen Conference: Day of Encouragement

ZusammenHelfen in Oberösterreich – Gemeinsam für geflüchtete Menschen (AT)

This is the fifth consecutive year that *ZusammenHelfen in Oberösterreich – Gemeinsam für geflüchtete Menschen* is staging a conference for all those who are committed to and interested in helping people forced to flee, or are affected by refugees and integration.

“Prospects for Political Education” Symposium

Upper Austria Teacher-Training College (AT), Upper Austria Chamber of Labor (AT), Ars Electronica (AT)

The symposium seeks to investigate whether social media can contribute anything to a new culture of conflict and fighting or if these media obstruct such a culture, whether digitalization has changed communication, cooperation, and opportunities for manipulation and, last but not least, whether new forms of conflict would emerge through the digital transformation of society.

Walking Lectures: Calculated Sensation

Anthony Moore (UK/FR), Siegfried Zielinski (DE)

3 stations, 6 topics – Moore’s and Zielinski’s expanded lecture is an invitation to travel in a time machine: a move through the Deep Time of Acoustics and Hearing - between calculation, sensation and endless variants of the Art of Combination.

AIxMusic Dialogues

In four panel discussions on Saturday, experts will address topics such as creativity, "bio art" and gaming in relation to the use and research of artificial intelligence in music.

AIxMusic Day

Artificial intelligence is changing our understanding of music. Starting with a series of talks, the AIxMusic Matinée invites universities and institutions share their research and present an overview about what it is happening today in those incubators. The lecture series also deals with the massive changes in the music industry, triggered by the developments of the AI and the latest trends in the music market.

Digital Makers Day – Digital Innovation Out of the Box

FH St. Pölten, Industry meets Makers, Tabakfabrik Linz, Zukunftsakademie Mostviertel

Digital innovation requires creative solutions to a digital culture shaped by co-creation, co-ideation, sharing economy, open access to resources, new forms of collaboration, etc. Major developments emerge “Out of the Box,” often off the beaten track. Short impulse lectures, interactive formats and best-practice presentations will be used to discuss developments in digital culture and possible measures to be taken.

Expert Workshop on AIxCulture

Ars Electronica (AT)

Looking at the cultural, societal and philosophical aspects of Artificial Intelligence, the workshop focuses on the implications of AI for education, media, ethics and transparency. The expert participants will discuss impacts, benefits and threats of AI through the lens of concrete, artistic examples.

The need for a digital revolution in our cities

Prix BLOXHUB Interactive, Ars Electronica

By 2030, an estimated 5 billion will be living in the world’s major cities. Based on UN Sustainable Development Goal 11.3, the international prize Prix BLOXHUB Interactive has been established to enable human-centered, digital solutions to the global challenges brought on by rapid urbanization.

BR41N.I0 Hackathon

g.tec medical engineering GmbH (AT)

The BR41N.IO Hackathon brings together engineers, programmers, designers, artists and/or enthusiasts, who collaborate intensively as an interdisciplinary team. Each team must design and build a unique, playful and wearable headpiece that can measure useful EEG signals in real-time to create any sort of interaction.

Knowledge Engine Co-Creation Workshop

Linz Center of Mechatronics GmbH (AT)

This event brings experts from the Festival, technology, art and business together. In a Co-creation workshop, participants will explore knowledge engines and topics related to the Festival.

The Messy Shape of Problems – Past, Present and Future Perspectives of Design

Academic Design Network Austria

Designers have to face an increasingly complex field of global challenges necessitating great sensitivity for relevant questions, adequate approaches and tools to develop sustainable solutions. How can design education convey the required skills and perspectives to cope with this dramatic rise in complexity? And how do technological advances shape the future of design?

PhD PANEL: slow algorithms and the hazards of standardization

Bauhaus University (DE)

Made up of four doctoral research students from the Bauhaus University Weimar’s practice-based PhD program, this panel uses the 100-year anniversary of the Bauhaus to critically reflect on the cultural, educational, political, and economic standardization of art and design in society today.

AIxMusic Festival

The first "AI x Music Festival", organized by Ars Electronica and the European Commission as part of the STARTS initiative, is dedicated to the encounter between human creativity and technical perfection. From September 6 to 8, 2019, Ars Electronica will be gathering musicians, composers, cultural historians, technologists, scientists and AI developers from all over the world in Linz to discuss the interaction between people and machines through concerts and performances, conferences, workshops and exhibitions.

FUNGUAGE - the FUN spirit in the future

Panel Discussion

What is the future of playfulness? How can we work on this future in the present, in the midst of our current societies? At the Panel Discussion FUNGUAGE - the FUN spirit in the future, these questions will be examined, using the example of a shared research project between BANDAI NAMCO Research Inc., Hakuhodo and the Ars Electronica Futurelab - FUNGUAGE. FUNGUAGE is a new form of language that enables humans and non-living material to communicate more effectively, creating a speculative scenario that uses FUN as a universal language, transcending cultural boundaries.

Tea Session: Laboratory of the Future

Panel Discussion

What is the role of the laboratory in the 21st century? This panel discussion will take a closer look at the constellations and methodologies that form the modern-day laboratory, spanning from scientific research to the Art Thinking methods so frequently employed within the Ars Electronica Futurelab itself. Working at the nexus of art, technology and society, Ars Electronica’s very own atelier and laboratory will be the starting point for a discussion on contemporary art and research practices both within and beyond the Ars Electronica ecosystem.

Musiktheater Workshop: Fragments | a digital Freischütz

CyberRäuber (DE)

Opera up close, eye to eye with the main characters: Max must prove himself with a masterly shot to gain the hand of Agathe, the head forester's daughter, and so become his successor. Doubting his skills as a marksman, Max accepts the help of Kaspar, who sold his soul to the devil, to cast seven magic bullets: six of them hit anything the shooter wants, the last one will be directed by the devil...

Panel IV: What is Creativity?

Renata Schmidtkunz (DE), Amanda Cox (US), Hermann Vaske (DE)

Numerous theoreticians, artists and lately also neuro-scientists have tried to unlock the secrets of creativity and in our new economy it has also become a much sought after ingredient for commercial success. So what is it, where does it come from and could it be delivered also by AI-Systems?

Panel III: Deep Journalism, Information and Misinformation in the age of Artificial Intelligence

Renata Schmidtkunz (DE), Walter Ötsch (AT), Marta Peirano (ES)

Which potentials and risks does the increasing automation and handling of information processes entail? Can we develop sensitive strategies for our data in digital space?

Panel II: AI, more than a technology

Renata Schmidtkunz (DE), Markus Poschner (DE), Douglas Eck (US), François Pachet (FR)

AI is expected to open many new possibilities for creators, not replacing them but assisting and supporting their work. Even more so we see big expectations for the businesses related to the distribution of music. What are the consequences and implications? What kind of new business models can we expect? How will this affect the artists?

Panel I: Homo Deus

Renata Schmidtkunz (DE), Josef Penninger (AT), Sophie Wennerscheid (DE)

Renata Schmidtkunz hosts four panel discussions in the summer refectory, prominently featuring Josef Penninger, Sophie Wennerscheid, Oliviero Toscani, Amanda Cox, Markus Poschner, and others. The topic is dedicated to the role of science and research, which initially had to confirm a religious view of the world, then was subordinated to economic rationality, and now, in the dawning age of AI, is reorienting again. Social acceptance in relation to current AI research will be discussed. Another focal point of the panels will be the new artistic possibilities opening up due to AI applications, which also lead to a variety of novel business models or issues with copyright regulations.

Expert Tour: Music Monday

Werner Jauk (AT), Tilman Hatje (DE)

The Sound Art Course “Music Monday” is a longstanding Ars Electronica tradition. The tour is a listening journey through the plurality of relationships between music / sound art and the media arts.

Talk: Ars Electronica Australia

Presentations and Panel Discussion

In its 40 years of existence, Ars Electronica has built up a vast network of partners and friends all around the world. In this session, the focus will be on the Ars Electronica Australia Initiative; presenting partners & friends from this growing ecosystem. The session will offer insights, through artistic projects, research, programs and experiments, into the cultural landscape, and activities of this Australian network.

AIxMusic Workshops (Friday)

The AIxMusic Festival will start with a series of workshops at POSTCITY.

AIxMusic Workshops (Sunday)

In recent years, the academic interest in applying deep learning to creative tasks such as generating text, images or music has drastically increased. These workshops offer everyone the opportunity to try out the AI systems used for making and playing music.

Talk: Ars Electronica Partners Network

Lecture / Presentation

In its 40 years of existence, Ars Electronica has built up a vast network of partners and friends all around the world. In this session, the focus will be on exactly these connections, shared research endeavors, and cooperations, showcasing projects and insights from current research, artistic projects, and experiments.

Hidden Alliances_versteckt verbunden Book Launch

Lecture: Lona Gaikis. 20 female artists in electronic art/music tell quite a different story and together they weave a fascinating network of interrelationships.

Teletext Hackathon

Nadine Arbeiter (DE), Cordula Ditz (DE), Daniel Egg (AT), Dan Farrimond (UK), Juha van Ingen (FI), Joey Holder (UK), Kathrin Günter (DE), Raquel Meyers (ES), Matthias Moos (CH), Niccolò Moronato (IT), Jarkko Räsänen (FI), Seppo Renvall (FI) and UBERMORGEN (AT/CH/USA)

At the Teletext Hackathon in the POSTCITY, five of the participating artists will create live teletext art, and the public is also cordially invited to get creative on site with teletext software. The resulting artworks can immediately be published and admired in ORF TELETEXT. The teletext exhibition ORF TELETEXT meets art will be shown in a presentation at Deep Space.

CyberRäuber Workshop

Björn Lengers (DE), Marcel Karnapke (DE)

Since 2016, Marcel Karnapke and Björn Lengers have worked together as CyberRäuber, bringing theatre into VR and VR into theatre. They do artistic research into new narratives, virtual stages, recorded and real-time acting on stage and VR. Their work is shown as repertoire pieces at several theatres and international festivals. In addition to showing their first interactive VR opera “Fragments | a digital Freischütz,” the CyberRäuber give a hands-on workshop with exclusive insights into VR theatre.

Chilean Artist Talks

This year, for the second time, the Ministerio de las Culturas, las Artes y el Patrimonio and the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores | Gobierno de Chile and Ars Electronica Linz collaborated in asking artists, scientists, designers, researchers, entrepreneurs and social activists from Chile or with a Chilean background to participate in the Ars Electronica Festival and discuss the current developments and tendencies in the Chilean media art scene.

Sonic Saturday – “Medium Sonorum”

The Sonic Saturday Medium Sonorum computer music matinée at Anton Bruckner University’s 20.4 channel concert hall, the CMS Sonic Lab, presents recent works by Tobias Leibetseder, Erik Nyström, Astrid Schwarz and Tania Rubio, as well as a rarely performed classic, the 36 enfilades pour Piano et Magnétophone by Luc Ferrari with Kaori Nishii at the piano and Angélica Castelló on the mixing desk.

Workshop series European Platform for Digital Humanism

The Saturday of the festival features a workshop series in the framework of the European Platform for Data Humanism.