A Brief History of Ars Electronica 1979–2019 Andreas J
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Andreas J. Hirsch About the Author Contents PROLOGUE Andreas J. Hirsch, born 1961 in Vienna, Austria, is a writer, art curator, In 1979, long before anyone started speaking about a “digital revolution,” Creating the Future and photographic artist. His manifold involvements in Ars Electronica in the unlikely setting of the small industrial town of Linz in Upper Austria, as consultant, curator, juror, and artist began in 1996. They include the close to the Iron Curtain, three men—the director of a television station, a musician, I 1979–1986 2013 exhibition “HR Giger – The Art of Biomechanics” and the 2017 book and a scientist, who also wrote science fiction—launched a visionary festival The Founding Years of a New Festival The Practice of Art and Science, with co-editor Gerfried Stocker. for art, technology and society, giving it the Latin name “Ars Electronica.” II 1987–1995 Forty years on, Ars Electronica comprises the annual Festival with more than Hirsch J. Andreas Creating The Festival and the Prix Form a Double Star 100,000 visitors, the Prix Ars Electronica as a prestigious international award, III 1996–2OO3 the Ars Electronica Center as a Museum and School of the Future with 6,500 A Museum and a Laboratory for the Future square meters of exhibition space, and the Ars Electronica Futurelab and Solutions—independent research and development facilities working IV 2OO4–2OO8 the Ars Electronica Casts Roots in the Region and Reaches out Globally in a global network of partnerships. “Creating the Future” follows the history of Ars Electronica from the pioneering V 2OO9–2O11 days of its inception through the turbulent times at the advent of the digital The Next Level – A New Ars Electronica Center revolution up to the challenges facing an internationally active, fast growing Future VI 2O12–2O14 organization with the imperative to constantly reinvent itself. A Brief History An Ecosystem of Art and Science in Years of Innovation and Change “A Brief History of Ars Electronica” tells the story of how technologies impact VII 2O15–2O19 on societies and on all of our lives in ever new and challenging ways, how the of Ars Electronica Turning Into a Platform for the Future collaboration of art and science can result in remarkable innovation, and how 1979–2019 Ars Electronica is dedicated to preparing us for the future. CONCLUSION The history of Ars Electronica is the inside story of a unique organization and the Future Creating Ars Electronica of A Brief History 1979–2019 The Search for the Secrets of “Ars Thinking” of the incredibly creative and immensely curious teams of artists, scientists, technologists, educators, and managers behind it. Creating the Future A Brief History of Ars Electronica 1979–2019 Andreas J. Hirsch Creating the Future A Brief History of Ars Electronica 1979–2019 ars.electronica.art CREATING THE FUTURE – A BRIEF HISTORY OF ARS ELECTRONICA Imprint Andreas J. Hirsch Creating the Future A Brief History of Ars Electronica 1979–2019 Contents Ars Electronica Ars Electronica Straße 1 4040 Linz, Austria PROLOGUE Tel +43-732.7272-0 Fax +43-732.7272-2 Creating the Future [email protected] www.ars.electronica.art Editors: Gerfried Stocker, Diethard Schwarzmair I The Founding Years of a New Festival Author and Picture Editing: Andreas J. Hirsch Copyediting: Catherine Lewis Graphic Design and Production: Helmut R. Nowak Typeface: IBM Plex II The Festival and the Prix Form a Double Star Printed by: Gutenberg-Werbering Gesellschaft m.b.H., Linz Paper: Claro Bulk 1,1 Vol. PEFC; book cover 300 g/m2, book block 115 g/m2 Binding: CPI Moravia Books s.r.o. III A Museum and a Laboratory for the Future © 2019 Ars Electronica © 2019 for the text Andreas J. Hirsch © 2019 for the reproduced works by the artists, or their legal successors IV Ars Electronica Casts Roots in the Region and Reaches out Globally Published by Hatje Cantz Verlag Mommsenstrasse 27 V The Next Level — A New Ars Electronica Center 10629 Berlin Deutschland Tel. +49 30 3464678-00 Fax +49 30 3464678-29 VI An Ecosystem of Art and Science in Years of Innovation and Change www.hatjecantz.com A Ganske Publishing Group company VII Turning Into a Platform for the Future ISBN 978-3-7757-4580-2 Printed in Austria CONCLUSION FSC-Zertifizierung The Search for the Secrets of “Ars Thinking” CONTENTS CREATING THE FUTURE – A BRIEF HISTORY OF ARS ELECTRONICA PROLOGUE CREATING THE FUTURE 11 21 Going to the Country – The Challenge of Simplicity 211 1 Ars Electronica Center Provides a Compass for Navigating the Future 13 22 Diving Right into the Middle of the City and Flying Over It 217 2 Ars Electronica Futurelab Cultivates the Wisdom of the Swarm 25 23 The Long Tail of the Hybrid 223 3 Ars Electronica Festival Celebrates the Midlife Crisis of the Digital Revolution 31 V THE NEXT LEVEL — A NEW ARS ELECTRONICA CENTER 229 4 Prix Ars Electronica Takes an Evolutionary Step Towards AI and Life Art 35 2009–2011 5 Immersing in the Future of Learning at the Deep Space and Beyond 39 24 Learning About New Views of Humankind – The Second Center and its Labs 231 6 Ars Electronica at 40 – Exploring the Future of the Legacy 41 25 Robots and Androids Are Among Us 237 26 Sparks of a New Renaissance – Reaching Out Into the Deep Space 241 I THE FOUNDING YEARS OF A NEW FESTIVAL 47 1979–1986 27 80+1 Turning Jules Verne’s Wager Into a Global Conversation 245 7 Put Your Radio in the Window: A Festival Emerges From a Cloud of Sound 49 28 Beyond Repair? – Ars Electronica and Saving the World 247 8 The Birth of Ars Electronica from the Spirit of Computer Music 59 VI AN ECOSYSTEM OF ART AND SCIENCE 251 and Computer Graphics IN YEARS OF INNOVATION AND CHANGE 9 Castor and Pollux in the Skies of a 24-Hour World of Telecommunications 69 2012–2014 10 Computer Culture Meets Avantgarde Art and Experimental Television 79 29 The Alphabet of Collaborative Creation 253 30 Rough Winds – The Story of the Spaxels 259 II THE FESTIVAL AND THE PRIX FORM A DOUBLE STAR 87 1987–1995 31 The Art of Biomechanics and the Evolution of Memory 263 11 The Birth of the Golden Nica 89 32 What It Takes To Change 268 12 Dreaming of Electric Sheep and Exploring Virtual Worlds 99 VII TURNING INTO A PLATFORM FOR THE FUTURE 271 13 The Rise of the Internet – Wide Awake in a Wired World 119 2015–2019 14 Planning Ars Electronica Center – The Art of Turning a Vision into Reality 129 33 Re-Inventing the Festival as Platform – The POSTCITY Phenomenon 273 34 The Practice of Art and Science 285 III A MUSEUM AND A LABORATORY FOR THE FUTURE 137 1996–2003 35 A School for the Future 291 15 More Than a Prototype – The First Ars Electronica Center 139 CONCLUSION 16 Memesis – Re-Formatting the Festival 153 THE SEARCH FOR THE SECRETS OF “ARS THINKING” 299 17 Finding Out What the Future of the Laboratory and a Laboratory 163 36 1979–2019: A Tale of Generations and a Vision Fulfilled 301 for the Future Could Be 37 Pattern Recognition: A Matrix of Themes and a Fabric of Motifs 303 18 The Art of Staying Ahead of the Times 181 38 Re-Inventing as Art: The Resilience of a Public Good 305 19 Into a New Millennium – Ars Electronica Amidst the Scenes of Global Conflicts 193 39 Intangible: Cultural Heritage Ahead of Its Interesting Times 306 IV ARS ELECTRONICA CASTS ROOTS IN THE REGION 199 40 The Search for the Secrets of “Ars Thinking” 307 AND REACHES OUT GLOBALLY 2004–2008 APPENDIX 309 20 Ars Electronica in New York – Reaching an International Stage 201 Footnotes, Photo Credit, Acknowledgments, About the Author 310 Ars Electronica Center Linz, 2019 PROLOGUE 11 CREATING THE FUTURE After 40 years at the nexus of art, technology and society, Ars Electronica in 2019 is an internationally operating player in a field that it has been proactively creating. Ars Electronica today is part of a globalized world, which meanwhile finds itself massively defined by the effects of digitization and computer technology. Technologies ranging from artificial intelligence to biotechnology are bringing about a landslide of transformations affecting all areas of life, work, and societies. In this situation the original vision from the founders of Ars Electronica in 1979—to bring together artists and scientists and to offer the general public an informed encounter with the imminent future—has gained more relevance and urgency than ever before. 01 Ars Electronica Center Provides a Compass for Navigating the Future 02 Ars Electronica Futurelab Cultivates the Wisdom of the Swarm 03 Ars Electronica Festival Celebrates the Midlife Crisis of the Digital Revolution 04 Prix Ars Electronica Takes an Evolutionary Step Towards AI and Life Art 05 Immersing in the Future of Learning at the Deep Space and Beyond 06 Ars Electronica at 40 – Exploring the Future of the Legacy 12 PROLOGUE 01 13 Ars Electronica Center Provides a Compass for Navigating the Future The building sits on the banks of the Danube, its glass facade—glow- ing in changing colors—is reflected in the river. It is a warm evening in the early summer of 2019 in Linz, the provincial capital of Upper Austria. From the Main Square of the city, across the bridge, people are swarming towards the Ars Electronica Center. The air is filled with anticipation, as tonight the new exhibitions of the Museum of the Future will be unveiled. Invitations promised much more than an exhibition opening. A complete relaunch of the content of the Center is to be expected.