Prix Ars Electronica
Photo: Ars Electronica / Martin Hieslmair
Winners 2024
The 2024 Prix Ars Electronica showcases its role as a central hub in the global network of media art with 2,950 submissions from 95 nations. The prize winners of the “Golden Nicas,” which have been selected by an international jury annually since 1987, will each receive 10,000 euros and feature prominently at the Ars Electronica Festival. Congratulations!
New Animation Art
Interactive Art +
u19–create your world
AI in ART Award
Ars Electronica Award for Digital Humanity
The 2024 Jury
2024 Jury Statements
All winners since 1987
New Animation Art
Golden Nica
Smoke and Mirrors
Beatie Wolfe (GB)
“Instead of letting the data stand alone, it boldly incorporates historical headlines that are in direct opposition of scientific facts, inviting the viewer to question prevailing narratives about environmental responsibility and accountability.”
Photo: Beatie Wolfe (GB)
Award of Distinction
I’m Feeling Lucky
Timothy Thomasson (CA)
“The panoramas’ immersive scale aimed to condition and mediate perception, thus linking the spectacle and scale of the time with the contemporary scales of imaging and data collection undertaken by Google.”
Award of Distinction
Stained
Jeremy Kamal (US)
“Stained imagines an alternative ecology that foregrounds under-explored narratives. It re-frames gang culture as a landscape phenomenon and recasts those affiliated as environmental caretakers and tea makers.”
Honorary Mention
ATUA
FAFSWAG (NZ)
“(…) not only challenges cultural norms but also highlights the limitations of available digital assets, as the character’s body mesh was custom-created due to the absence of non-binary representation.”
Honorary Mention
Chuly? Chuly / Чули? Чули
Letta Shtohryn (UA)
“The hybridization between game engine aesthetics and mechanics, live performance with motion capture and the exchanging of roles of performers on stage suggests new possibilities for live performance incorporating the techniques of virtual production.”
Honorary Mention
DUCK
Rachel Maclean (GB)
“Society is entering an increasingly more powerful inflection point through the role and impact of more AI. Through this, DUCK satirically reflects on such a moment with a time-bending cultural resonance, reminding us that the issues we fear are also issues we have dealt with in other forms.”
Honorary Mention
Emperor
Marion Burger (FR), Ilan J. Cohen (FR)
“Using analog, pencil-style technique in the 3D space, the work creates a unique combination of the well-optimized experience which perfectly fits the narrative.”
Honorary Mention
F*ckai? (Famous)
Jordan Clarke (CA)
“Playing around meme culture and the most predictable evolution of the character together with clever comments on the appropriation of art historical images, Clarke shows his own excellence in animation and filmmaking.”
Honorary Mention
I stitch my skin to the ground
Nao Usami (JP)
“By defying conventional gameplay norms, users symbolically rebuild their avatars, evoking ‘reparative play’—a psychoanalytic concept of empowerment amid trauma.”
Honorary Mention
ITERATIVE BODY SYNTHESIS
Michael Wallinger (AT)
“The project offers a critical commentary on the invisibility of certain body types in digital spaces, perpetuated by invisible black box algorithmic decisions that shape our media realities and, in turn, our perceptions of ourselves and those around us.”
Honorary Mention
Mid Tide #3
Ryu Furusawa (JP)
“This work challenges traditional linear narratives by presenting multiple cross-sections of time, continuously evolving and looping in a mesmerizing three-dimensional space.”
Honorary Mention
No Se Van Los Que Se Aman
Matar a un Panda (CL)
“(…) No Se Van Los Que Se Aman successfully employs minimal means to reflect on the brutality of political oppression in Pinochet-era Chile and its continued resonances within the next generation.”
Honorary Mention
Random Acts of Flyness – Season 2, Episode 4 – Fourth Dimension: Spacetime/bodyspirit
Kordae Henry (US)
“Leveraging advanced visual storytelling techniques, VFX-artist Kordae Henry (aka Tafa) creates captivating and surreal computer animations that reflect the narratives exploring space, time, and ancestral remedies.”
Honorary Mention
Thank you for your souvenir, UK!
Los (CN)
“By showcasing the struggle of identical closed-eyed ragdolls pushed through the system, the film urges viewers to examine the complexities of the system and its implications.”
Honorary Mention
Unknown Label
Nicolas Gourault (FR)
“The animation is more than mere illustration, it is integrated as the very essence of its narrative; the documentary could not exist without it, and it is an exemplar for the New Animation Art category of Prix Ars Electronica.”
Interactive Art +
Golden Nica
Nosukaay
Diane Cescutti (FR)
“Nosukaay as a textile-computer hybrid allows us to rethink the concept of the ‘computer’ through a rich tapestry of shared understanding that interweaves craft with computational practices.”
Photo: @BlancheLafarge
Award of Distinction
If You Have Starry Skies in Your Eyes
Rib (JP)
“By embracing her artificial eye, Rib challenges conventional notions of beauty and physical variation. This is a call for a more inclusive society where individuals feel empowered to express their authentic selves, sparking meaningful dialogue, inspiring positive change within the prosthetic eye industry and fostering greater acceptance in society at large.”
Award of Distinction
Third World: The Bottom Dimension
Gabriel Massan (BR)
“Massan is clear in his desire to reveal instead of replicate how systems of power erase and marginalize complicated historical truths. The goal here is not to conquer or extract, but to question colonial notions of expedition and to resist the embedded power structures.”
Honorary Mention
AI Fortuneteller
Soonho Kwon (KR), Dong Whi Yoo (KR), Younah Kang (KR)
“The project critiques blind trust in AI and stimulates discussions on healthy human–AI relationships, and the meaning of human autonomy in the AI era.”
Honorary Mention
All Directions At Once
Luiza Prado (BR)
“This web-based digital performance or “GIF essay” is based on presenting a number of Brazilian folk herbal contraceptives expressing “radical decolonizing care”, aiming to resist the disasters brought about by colonialism.”
Honorary Mention
Coincidence
Toprak Firat (TR), Yasin Aribuga (TR)
“The intention of the work is not to observe, but to produce a social sculpture of Istanbul through a complex composite of moving images, imprinting in its visual density the political and ideological tensions of the city’s multicultural and cosmopolitan neighborhoods.”
Honorary Mention
Cold Call: Time Theft as Avoided Emissions
Sam Lavigne and Tega Brain (INT)
“For the artists, the time stolen from these oil and gas executives has carbon benefits and is quantifiable as credits using a carbon offsetting methodology.”
Honorary Mention
Consensus Gentium
Karen Palmer (GB)
“While you are watching the story play out on your phone, the app‘s facial recognition system is closely monitoring your reactions to the events and weighing your threat to their meticulous control.”
Honorary Mention
Conversations Beyond the Ordinary
Jan Zuiderveld (NL)
“Instead of cute robots, the installation introduces us to mundane appliances with their very own personalities, tics and idiosyncrasies.”
Honorary Mention
G80
Fragmentin (CH)
“It thereby reminds us that the idea of a world controlled by computers is far older than current debates on AI and machine learning, and that the problem lies not so much in a data-driven world but in the pre-existing categories used to make sense of that data.”
Honorary Mention
Kazokutchi
So Kanno (JP), Akihiro Kato (JP), Takemi Watanuki (JP)
“This interplay mirrors urban life and the city’s post-pandemic adaptation, while also examining the concept of the unique world each being perceives.”
Honorary Mention
Mixed Signals
kennedy+swan (DE)
“In addition to their aesthetic form, the AR paintings also create a level of engagement with new technologies, promising to connect us with non-human beings.”
Honorary Mention
REPEAT AFTER ME, 2022
Open Group (UA)
“REPEAT AFTER ME, 2022 is an artwork. However, instead of songs and tunes, it presents/offers individual memories and experiences of everyday war violence and its ‘vehicles’—the sounds of gunfire, missiles, howls, and explosions of deadly firearms and drones.”
Honorary Mention
Swarming / Swimming
Honey Biba Beckerlee (DK)
“Swarming / Swimming is a simple installation, interweaving seaweed and optical fiber, which showcases the delicate balance between nature and technology.”
Honorary Mention
ZOE
Amir Bastan (IR), Noor Stenfert Kroese (NL)
“ZOE explores Mycobotics, possibilities of biocomputing with fungi through robotics and more than human-computer interaction.”
AI in ART Award
Golden Nica
Washed Out “The Hardest Part”
Paul Trillo (US)
A trip and a fall down memory lane. A continuous push forward through time tracking the relationship of a couple from middle-school into the afterlife. This is the first official commissioned music video collaboration between a music artist and filmmaker made with OpenAI’s Sora video model.
Photo: Paul Trillo
Award of Distinction
Intelligent Instruments in Citizen Science
Thor Magnusson (IS), Intelligent Instruments Lab (IS)
Artificial Intelligence is becoming increasingly human-like and it is now proficient in a key human activity: musical creativity. But what does this mean? How does creative AI change our notions of art, culture and society? As new machine learning technologies begin to mirror ourselves, we need to look into that mirror and ask how this is changing us.
Award of Distinction
REPETAE
Sasha Stiles (US)
REPETAE is an ongoing series by poet, language artist and AI researcher Sasha Stiles that invokes both poetry and machinic algorithm to explore how meaning accrues through repetition. The project leverages a suite of generative elements — AI-powered language, code-based visuals, digitally looped and layered spoken word — in standalone works and longer, interconnected cycles that embody various ways in which emotion and perception are shaped by pattern, as well as the interruption or subversion of pattern.
Ars Electronica Award for Digital Humanity
Main Prize
Patchwork Girl
De Toneelmakerij (NL) – Paulien Geerlings (NL), Jantine Jongebloed (NL), Eva Knibbe (NL), Noelía Martin-Montalvo (ES), Nina Van Tongeren (NL)
“Patchwork Girl excels in promoting human-centered, collaborative practices and cross-disciplinary engagement, aligning perfectly with the Ars Electronica Award for Digital Humanity’s objectives. It transcends mere reflection on technology’s effects, advocates for systemic change in digital spaces, and opens new pathways towards the protection of human dignity.”
Photo: Sanne Peper
Honorary Mention
AI and the Art of Historical Reinterpretation – Filling Gender Bias Gaps
Claudia Larcher (AT)
“This project stands as a powerful example of how AI can be harnessed to empower marginalized groups and reshape our understanding of history.”
u19–create your world
Golden Nica – Young Professionals
Fluten der Freiheit (Floods of freedom)
Jakob Gruber (AT)
“Despite its brevity of just ten seconds, the animation impressively conveys strong emotions and an urgent message without any spoken words, using only sound effects. With right-wing parties and autocrats on the rise and the high number of deaths in the Mediterranean often relegated to mere footnotes in media coverage, it is crucial for other voices to be heard loud and clear.”
Award of Distinction
Young Professionals
Last
mittendrinrot (AT)
“By using natural materials, it creates not only aesthetically pleasing images but also conveys a profound message about climate protection, friendship, and hope.”
Award of Distinction
Young Professionals
to the friends i’ll never meet
Selma Yassin (AT)
“Through her adept use of various media, the artist sensitively and intricately approaches themes of online time, friendship, and intimacy.”
HONORARY MENTION
Young Professionals
A Normal Day in Jurassic World
Maximilian Peinhaupt (AT)
“Not only does this film excel in animation with nearly 6,000 frames and meticulous attention to detail, but it is also filled with many humorous details and expertly crafted sound design.”
Honorary Mention
Young Professionals
AEROQ – dicke Luft im Klassenzimmer (AEROQ – Thick air in the classroom)
Valentin Glück, Thomas Jochum, Max Kneringer, Nina Thöni, Noah Walser (BRG/BORG Landeck)
“Their self-developed CO2 monitors for classrooms not only impress with their appealing design but also with their technical sophistication.”
Honorary Mention
Young Professionals
Canon Events
Paula Boyer, Lisa Marie Diessner, Alena Milcic (Höhere Graphische Bundes-, Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt)
“Paula Boyer, Lisa Marie Diessner, and Alena Milcic impressively navigated the fine line between nostalgia and the present, where nothing is idealized but instead examined critically and soberly through a scientific lens.”
Honorary Mention
Young Professionals
Die Klimakonferenz (The climate conference)
PTS Schwanenstadt
“(…) an animated fish warns political leaders about the real consequences of the climate crisis but is silenced with the words ‘This fish has no idea!’”
Honorary Mention
Young Professionals
Everlasting End
Keno Czompo, Aaron Hager, Tobias Kogler (Höhere Graphische Bundes-, Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt)
“The player must decide which characters to listen to in the remaining moments. By incorporating this interactive concept, viewers are compelled to engage directly with the theme of impermanence. It’s more than just a game; it’s an experience (…)”
Honorary Mention
Young Professionals
Synergia
Synergia Ensemble (AT)
“The young Synergia ensemble demonstrates remarkable maturity in the execution of musical performance and textual accompaniment. Leonhard Gaigg’s compositions are skillfully realized with pre-recorded and live-played sounds.”
Honorary Mention
Young Professionals
Synth Cycles
Benjamin Jurina (AT), Emily Schiestek (AT), Benjamin Schäfer (AT)
“(…) The game excels with clever puzzle design, striking a good balance between puzzles and action, and an extremely professional look. (…)”
Honorary Mention
Young Professionals
Verpackt und Vernetzt (Packaged and connected)
Tatsanan Tang (TH)
“The idea of portraying social media consumption as pills is both simple and complex.”
Honorary Mention
Young Professionals
Musikvideo “Was heißt es alleine zu sein?” (Music video “What does it mean to be alone?”)
Rosa Peschina (AT), Lara Tomasic (AT), Sina Tödling (AT), Ida Onzek (AT)
“Throughout, visually stunning images and lovingly crafted details emerge, beautifully accentuating the atmosphere.”
Honorary Mention
Young Professionals
Zemlyanka
Zemlya Studio (AT)
“This work (…) represents the desire to survive, but also expresses the desperation that can drive people into seemingly hopeless situations.”
u14 prize
Young Creatives
WarpCity
2a, BRG Pichelmayergasse
“This extensive project straightforwardly and creatively conveys the relevance of issues such as soil sealing and urban planning.”
u14 Award of Distinction
Young Creatives
Lights Out
Young Filmmakers (AT)
“The darkness in all its shades—essential for the film’s atmosphere—is wonderfully captured.”
u14 Award of Distinction
Young Creatives
Nachhaltigkeitsziele und Stopmotion (Sustainability Goals and Stop-Motion)
3b, Mittelschule Frohnleiten
“The result is twelve stop-motion films that creatively and poignantly illustrate what we need to do to protect the environment, and more importantly, why we need to do it.”
u14 Honorary Mention
Young Creatives
Meine grüne Stadt der Zukunft (My green city of the future)
Jonas Stöttinger (AT)
“The young artist Jonas Stöttinger has delved deeply into urban planning and architecture against the backdrop of climate change (…)”
u12 Prize
Young Creatives
betterTogether
Antonia Hofstadler (AT), Moritz Fink (AT), Marc Umile (AT), GRG15
“This community project (…) demonstrates that when working together as a team, one can advocate for the weaker members of a community.”
u12 Award of Distinction
Young Creatives
Book To Go – das sprechende Buch (Book to go – The talking book)
Sarah Hölzl (AT)
“It is lovingly illustrated and turns learning animal names into a multisensory experience.”
u12 Honorary Mention
Young Creatives
Future Cookies
Seher Ödemis, Lorenz Schennach, Gülderen Tanriseven, Manojlo Tanzer (Mittelschule Telfs Weissenbach)
“The detailed process of producing cookie cutters with a 3D printer is documented, making it very understandable.”
u10 Prize
Young Creatives
Na2r_3lumen (Na2re_Flow3ers)
Nea Geršak (DE)
“The combination of painted images and flower animation effectively conveys the beauty and transience of nature.”
u10 Award of Distinction
Young Creatives
Peter, Paula und Panini. Klimabuch und Theaterstück (Climate book and play)
Lina Roth (AT)
“The text for the play was developed by the young artist Lina Roth in co-creation with Artificial Intelligence, allowing her to combine her ideas with those of her friends’ children while still producing a coherent text.”
u10 Honorary Mention
Young Creatives
Aus Waffen werden Werkzeuge (From weapons to tools)
David Gaulhofer (AT), Mittelschule Frohnleiten
“(…) a pacifist demand to repurpose war machines such as tanks into something that no longer destroys but is instead useful, , such as a tractor.”
The Prix Ars Electronica is the world’s most time-honored media arts competition. Winners are eligible for the coveted Golden Nica awards and monetary prizes of up to 10,000 euros in each category. They will also be featured at the Ars Electronica Festival from September 4 to 8, 2024, in Linz, Austria!
HOPE
who will turn the tide
Ars Electronica Festival
September 4 – 8, 2024
POSTCITY / Linz, Austria
Ars Electronica is one of the world’s top addresses for media art. At the festival, you’ll meet the Who’s Who of the international media art scene as well as young shooting stars who are just starting to make a name for themselves. First and foremost, we’d like to recommend one of the many exhibitions, the Prix Ars Electronica Exhibition, where you can see the best media art works of the year that have been honored by the international jury of the prestigious competition.