Get Inspired by Ars Electronica
Upper Austrian Economic Chamber & Ars Electronica Are Hosting an Innovation Forum
Press release with time table / PDF
(Linz, July 16, 2018) “Get Inspired by Ars Electronica” is the theme of an Innovation Forum developed by Ars Electronica and Upper Austrian Economic Chamber. The first event in what will be an ongoing series is set for Thursday, September 6, 2018, the opening day of this year’s Ars Electronica Festival. The lineup includes talks, presentations, workshops and themed tours dealing with various aspects of deviations from the norm, the innovation potential of errors, and constructive ways to deal with them. The Innovation Forum targets businesspeople in Upper Austria; participation is free of charge.
Get Inspired by Ars Electronica
Approximately a thousand artists, scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs and social activists make guest appearances in Linz each year in conjunction with Ars Electronica. “We have to take advantage of the cornucopia of ideas, visions, prototypes and projects that they bring to Linz more intensely and efficiently in the future,” Gerfried Stocker said in explaining the aim of Get Inspired. “That why we, together with the Upper Austrian Economic Chamber, are staging the first Innovation Forum oriented explicitly on the needs of businesspeople here.”
“Ars Electronica should inspire entrepreneurs. The Festival is the ideal setting in which to scrutinize and debate the technological future and the opportunities and consequences it brings with it for the business community and society as a whole. By producing the first Innovation Forum—Get Inspired by Ars Electronica—we’re setting the tone for closer cooperation between Ars Electronica and the regional economy. After all, Ars Electronica as a cultural festival for technology, science and society has become internationally synonymous with Linz and this city’s innovative spirit as well as important part of what makes this region an attractive place to do business,” Doris Lang-Mayerhofer emphasized.
The 1st Innovation Forum—Thursday, September 6, 2018
“Get Inspired by Ars Electronica” is set for Thursday, September 6, 2018, the first day of this year’s Ars Electronica Festival. The event kicks off with introductory remarks by Doris Hummer, Doris Lang-Mayerhofer and Gerfried Stocker. The program continues with the Get Inspired Symposium, at which speakers will address cultural, social and technology aspects of failure, and constructive ways of dealing with errors. Experts will also focus on Upper Austria as a setting for innovation and compare it with the facts & circumstances in place in Silicon Valley.
After lunch, participants can choose between two offerings. Get Inspired Spotlight Tours feature trailblazing projects at the interface of art, science and industry on display in POSTCITY. The IOT – Trust in Invisible Agents expert workshop is all about the Internet of Things and factors necessarily associated with it— the transparency and comprehensibility of algorithms and artificial intelligence systems. This workshop will be led by CREATE-IoT, a consortium of experts financed by the EU’s Horizon 2020 program for research and innovation.
All participants will then reconvene for Get Inspired Presentations. Start-ups, newcomers and established firms will give a series of brief statements that provide insights into their interdisciplinary approaches. This session’s point of departure is STARTS – Innovation in Science, Technology and the Arts, the European Commission’s initiative that sees the digital transformation of industry, culture and society as the main driving force powering interdisciplinary cooperative ventures with innovative goals. The aim is to dovetail technology and artistic practice in ways that are fruitful for technological innovation as well as artistic ferment in Europe.
Following a one-hour reception, the evening program begins with a Future Innovators Symposium at which artists, scientists, engineers, social activists and entrepreneurs from all over the world will present their ideas and visions having to do with social innovation.
Get Inspired concludes with FUCKUP NIGHT Linz Special. This event staged in cooperation with the University of Linz, Linz Art University and the Tabakfabrik will shed light on errors from social and personal points of view—mistakes, their impact, and what those who make them can learn from them.
Ars Electronica and the Upper Austrian Economic Chamber then invite all participants in the first innovation forum to attend the opening event of this year’s Ars Electronica Festival in POSTCITY, an extraordinary setting for concerts, performances, interventions and visualizations by artists. The festivities will continue into the wee hours of the morning.
The Innovation Continues on Friday, September 7th, STARTS Day
Innovation will continue to be a focal-point theme at the Ars Electronica Festival the next day too. Friday, September 7th is STARTS Day. Science, Technology and the ARTS—abbreviated STARTS—is the title of the European Commission’s initiative to showcase people and projects that are outstanding examples of mastering the social, economic and ecological challenges Europe will be facing in the future. A part of this initiative is the prestigious STARTS Prize endowed with €40,000 in cash to nurture innovative projects at the nexus of art, technology and science. Ars Electronica has been involved in conducting the competition to award these prizes since 2014, and the 30 projects submitted for prize consideration are showcased in an exhibition at the Ars Electronica Festival. The recipients of STARTS Prizes appear live in Linz—as featured speakers at the STARTS Talks and as stars of the Ars Electronica Gala in the Brucknerhaus where they receive their STARTS trophies.
ERROR – the Art of Imperfection – The 2018 Ars Electronica Festival
Celebrated as a marvelous source of innovation and also scorned for the catastrophic accidents they trigger, mistakes, fallacies, deviation—in short, ERRORs— occupy the spotlight at this year’s Ars Electronica Festival. September 6-10, hundreds of artists, scientists, engineers, designers, technologists, entrepreneurs and social activists will gather in Linz once again this year. Together, they’ll be considering current technological and social interplays, and their potential manifestations in the future. These proceeding will take place in the presence of and with participation by the general public. The festival venues arrayed throughout downtown Linz include the former Austrian Postal Service logistics center at Linz’s main train station, St. Mary’s Cathedral, the OK Center for Contemporary Art, Moviemento, CENTRAL, Architekturforum, Brucknerhaus, the LENTOS Art Museum, Linz Art University, Salzamt, the Ars Electronica Center, St. Josef’s Parish Church, Stadtwerkstatt and Anton Bruckner Private University. These locations are expressly conceived as settings in which young and old, laymen and experts alike, can get inspired and give free rein to their imaginations, explore ideas and visions, experience works of art and prototypes, performances and concerts.
Innovation & Inspiration at POSTCITY
The hotspot of this one-of-a-kind festival is POSTCITY. Once again this year, Ars Electronica has the opportunity to use this decommissioned mail & parcel distribution center as the annual festival’s hub and setting for such highlights as the Big Concert Night starring the Bruckner Orchestra with chief conductor Markus Poschner, the ERROR exhibition and symposium, the STARTS exhibition, a two-day Hackathon, Gallery Spaces, and the colorful u19 – CREATE YOUR WORLD festival. POSTCITY will also host one of the world’s largest and most fascinating fairs for creativity and innovation. The attendees include trade associations, companies and universities from throughout the world.
Photo:
Ars Electronica Center / Fotocredit: Ars Electronica / Robert Bauernhansl / Printversion
