Ars Electronica: a Unique Platform for Digital Art and Media Culture © Ars Electronica

Ars Electronica: A unique platform for digital art and media culture © Ars Electronica • Innovation • Attractiveness of the territory • Internationalisation • Urban regeneration • Education • Cross-sectorial collaboration Context Linz is the third-largest city of Austria and the capital of the state of Upper Austria. The population of the city is 193,814, and that of the Greater Linz conurbation is about 271,000. Steel and industrial chemistry have made Linz one of Austria’s most important economic centres. But today, Linz also offers a broad spectrum of cultural events and a great number of cultural institutions. In 2009, together with Vilnius (Lithuania) Linz was European Capital of Culture (ECOC). More than 2.5 million people visited the city that year. Several newly constructed cultural venues reinforced Linz’s image as a dynamic city of culture and industry. To ensure that Linz maintains its success after the ECOC year (“Linz 2009”), the city decided to evaluate and to redesign the Cultural Development Plan elaborated in 2000. The new Culture Development Plan underpins the necessity of a continuous cultural development after Linz 2009. In addition to setting up new cultural infrastructures, the city decided to expand subsidy programmes in the spirit of a very inclusive concept of culture, and developing formats that offer the general public low-threshold access to art and culture. Challenges In the 1970s, Linz was an industrial and provincial city whose economy was based on the industry. The decline of the industry and the poor image of the region, associated with a poor cultural offer, made Linz look for alternatives. Linz had no cultural traditions, but it has technological traditions. The main industrial company, Vöst Alpine AG, successfully reinvented itself after a bankruptcy as a specialised, international, technological business. In the process that led to the creation of the Ars Electronica Festival, the will to differentiate the cultural offer from the ones of Vienna and Salzburg made it possible to specialise in technology and cutting-edge projects . Ars Electronica Ars Electronica is a museum and research facility The Prix Ars Electronica has been a forum for artistic on the north bank of the Danube that has become a creativity and innovation since 1987. The competition significant world centre for new media arts, attracting is organised by Ars Electronica Linz GmbH and ORF’s a large gathering of technologically-oriented artists Upper Austria Regional Studio, in collaboration every year. Ars Electronica is a platform that organises with the OK Center for Contemporary Art and the four main activities: Brucknerhaus Linz. The Prix Ars Electronica is one of the world’s premier awards honouring creativity and The Ars Electronica Center (AEC) opened in 1996 as innovation in the use of digital media. a prototype of a “Museum of the Future.” Its mission is to use interactive forms of mediation to facilitate Winners are awarded the Golden Nica statuette, the general public’s encounter with virtual reality, prize money ranging up to €10,000 per category and digital networks and modern media. After two years an opportunity to showcase their talents during the of construction works at an approximate cost of €30 Ars Electronica Festival. The categories in 2015 are million, the new AEC opened in January 2009. It now Computer Animation/Film/VFX, Digital Musics & has 3,000 square meters for exhibitions, 100 square Sound Art, Hybrid Art and [the next idea] Vöst Alpine meters for research and development, 400 square Art & Technology Grant competition. In 2014, a new meters for workshops and conferences, and another prize was introduced: a Golden Nica honouring 1,000 square meters of public space for various types the Visionary Pioneers of Media Art. Pixar in 1987, of events. Wikipedia in 2004, and WikiLeaks in 2009 were all honoured with a prize. The FutureLab is a model of a new kind of media art laboratory in which artistic and technological innovations engender reciprocal inspiration. Ars Electronica FutureLab focuses on the future at the nexus of art, technology and society. The FutureLab’s wide-ranging activities include designing and engineering exhibitions, creating artistic installations, and pursuing collaborative research with universities and joint ventures with private sector associates. The lab’s team consists of about 25 members from different disciplines such as architecture, biology, chemistry, graphics, informatics, art, media design, © Ars Electronica media technology, music, physics, sociology, telematics, etc. There are always several exhibitions running simultaneously in the AEC. The permanent exhibition “New Views of Humankind” examines how human beings and the world they inhabit have changed, how we influence our environment, and what the world might look like in the future. Attendance figures for the AEC now exceed all other museums in this city. The Ars Electronica Festival is known for being interdisciplinary. International experts from the arts and science fields meet a broad audience of highly diverse backgrounds and interests. Since 1979, the festival has featured exhibitions, performances and events designed to foster an artistic and scientific confrontation with current social and technological changes. The most recent edition took place in September 2014. © Ars Electronica Budget and financing Impact Ars Electronica is managed as a not-for-profit Quantitative impact: organisation. The sole purpose of its profit-oriented work is to provide funding for its public service With a total of 158,428 visitors in 2014, the Ars activities, i.e. for the centre, festival and prix. Part of the Electronica Centre led all Upper Austrian museums in institution budget is provided by the City of Linz, the attendance. More than 2,000 school classes enjoyed Province of Upper Austria and the Republic of Austria, hands-on educational experiences. but Ars Electronica also earns its own revenue. In The Ars Electronica Festival is today the most 2014, total revenues rose by about €200,000 to €13.1 important new media festival worldwide with million. The self-financing quotient was 60%. approximately 75.000 annual visitors. A highly diverse array of artistic and cultural institutions, universities and private firms from all over the world use the festival as a presentation platform. The 2014 edition of the festival attracted approximately 85,000 visitors, and 579 artists, scientists, technologists, musicians and sound artists, entrepreneurs, and inventors from 59 countries were actively involved. They all have shaped and realised 427 individual events. The Ars Electronica FutureLab has received various national and international awards. For instance, in 2011, the Ars Electronica Linz GmbH was awarded the Upper Austrian communications “Caesar” award in the “Event” category for the exhibition tent “Linz Changes”. Over 122,500 people visited the exhibition, © Ars Electronica which provides unusual and fascinating insights into the living space of Linz. Qualitative impact: In the 1990s, thanks to the festival, the city became more internationalised as talents from all over the world came to Linz. Several hi-tech companies are now established in the region. Linz has become an example of an industrial, clean, ecological, cultural and international city. In 2014, Linz was designated UNESCO City of Media Arts. Today, the annual Ars Electronica Festival and Prix Ars Electronica showcase and honour excellence, and deliver essential impetus to media culture worldwide, while the Ars Electronica Center and FutureLab are driving forces for innovation both in research and development as well as in education throughout the region. © Ars Electronica Sustainability Launched in September 1979, Ars Electronica was Tips rapidly successful and attracted worldwide attention. Art, technology and society remain the philosophy of Work across disciplines, invest in innovation this platform. Ars Electronica is a pioneer in the field and focus on societal issues as a way to while constantly seeking to reinvent itself. engage with the population. Through Ars Electronica, Linz managed to differentiate The innovative aspects of Ars Electronica itself through innovative culture-led strategies led to its success: interdisciplinarity, social (despite its much smaller size) and now competes issues activism, and pioneering in technical with Vienna in terms of tourism and attractiveness. and cultural fields. Management level and partners Ars Electronica is considered a new model of collaboration to take place between the culture, and business sectors and universities. Each partner brings different strengths and competences to collaborative projects. For instance, partnerships between Ars Electronica and the local schools and universities form a rich pedagogical network and lead to innovations. Students benefit from worldwide exchange programmes, and researchers and artists in residence promote creative exchanges . Ars Electronica also regularly collaborates with museums and will be present in Mons (Belgium), the European Capital of Culture for 2015. © Ars Electronica Links : Contact : www.aec.at Michael Badics, Senior Director www.aec.at/aeblog/en [email protected] www.cultureforcitiesandregions.eu.

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