[spectre] Prix Ars Electronica - new Digital Communities category

[Martin Brunnbauer]

Prix Ars Electronica Features a New Category in 2004

Vienna (December 17, 2003) - The premiere of the Digital Communities 
category featuring an awards ceremony and exhibition of outstanding 
projects in New York will highlight the 2004 Prix Ars Electronica. A 
total of seven Golden Nica prizes as well as Awards of Distinction 
and Honorary Mentions will be handed out in six categories. Another 
innovation this year is a spin-off of the Prix Ars Electronicaâs u19 
freestyle computing category: "the next idea" competition honors 
outstanding concepts for not-yet-produced projects by artists age 
19-27. Entries may be submitted for Prix Ars Electronica 
consideration from January 12 to March 12, 2004.


To mark Ars Electronicaâs 25th anniversary, the Prix Ars Electronica 
is expanding the international scope of its activities and focusing 
on phenomena of tremendous current relevance to Information Society. 
The new Digital Communities category will recognize exemplary 
initiatives that are advancing the openness of Information Society. 
In the words of Ars Electronica Artistic Director Gerfried Stocker: 
ãThe projects in this new category are utilizing modern technologies 
to implement a vision of new, open and democratic structures. They 
are bringing people closer to one another, creating means of access 
to information, and making a tangible contribution to improving the 
quality of life and promoting social coexistence.ä This category is 
made possible by SAP, the worldâs leading supplier of business 
software. Examples of the activities on which it will focus include 
collective ãbloggingã (gathering opinions, information and links) in 
the Internet, spontaneously congregating ãflash mobsä (large-scale 
assemblies organized online or via cell phone), learning, gaming, and 
fan communities, e-government portals, and innovative developmental 
projects in so-called Third World countries. The prizes in this 
category will be awarded by a jury made up of leading international 
experts including Joichi Ito, Shanthi Kalathil, Howard Rheingold and 
Oliviero Toscani. The winners will be singled out for recognition in 
June 2004 at a ceremony in New York, where their projects will then 
go on public exhibition. The prizes in the other ãclassicä categories 
will be handed out as in the past at the Prix Ars Electronica Gala in 
Autumn 2004 in Linz.


Prix Ars Electronica - Europeâs Showcase of the Best of Cyberart
Seven Golden Nicas-the coveted statuettes presented to the grand 
prizewinners-as well as a total of 130,000 Euros in prize money will 
be awarded in the following six categories in 2004: Digital 
Communities, Net Vision, Interactive Art, Computer Animation/Visual 
Effects, Digital Musics and u19 freestyle computing.

Expanded Category for Young People
The u19 freestyle computing category is being expanded in 2004. This 
competition is for works of animation, Internet projects, sounds, 
graphics, software and even robots created by computer freaks and 
novices alike age 19 and under. Besides the Golden Nica, special 
merchandise prizes will be awarded to exceptional young artists in 
different age groups.
Plus, a new category focusing on ideas for not-yet-produced projects 
by artists age 19-27 is being launched this year. The aim of "the 
next idea" competition is to discover concepts for tomorrow in young 
minds today. The winner will receive a grant as well as the 
opportunity to bring his/her project to fruition as Artist in 
Residence at the Ars Electronica Futurelab.

Committed Partners Make Visions Reality
The firms that have supported Prix Ars Electronica over the years are 
setting an example of how the private sectorâs commitment to 
enhancing cultural life can nurture the creation of contemporary art. 
On the importance of outstanding relationships with corporate 
sponsors, Gerfried Stocker said: ãStrong associates like SAP, Telekom 
Austria and voestalpine enable us not only to carry on the Prix in 
the form that has been so successful up to now but also to enhance it 
with important, innovative themes and aspects.ä Taking a place this 
year besides Telekom Austria, long-time benefactor of the ãclassicä 
Prix categories, and voestalpine is SAP, sponsor of "the next idea" 
and a partner that will make a substantial contribution to sustaining 
and strengthening the innovativeness and dynamism of the Prix Ars 
Electronica.

The Prix Ars Electronica
The Prix Ars Electronica is being held for the eighteenth time in 
2004. This cyberarts competition has been conceived as an open 
platform for a wide range of artistic disciplines in the digital 
media domain at the interface of art, technology and society. With 
more than 21,000 works submitted since 1987 by 17,000 participants 
representing 87 countries, the Prix Ars Electronica has become the 
most important and successful international showcase of the best of 
digital media art.


Contact
Wolfgang A. Bednarzek
Pressesprecher / Press Officer
AEC Ars Electronica Center Linz, Hauptstra§e 2, 4040 Linz, Austria
tel ++43.732.7272-38. fax ++43.732.7272-638. wolfgang.bednarzek at aec.at
Press Lounge at Ars Electronica: http://www.aec.at/press