Ars Electronica 2006 August 31, 2006

The world’s leading media arts festival

A richly varied program and an eminently incomparable atmosphere are the defining features of the Ars Electronica Festival. In addition to symposia, conferences, concerts and exhibitions, a profusion of art projects installed in public spaces invites those partaking of it to engage in interaction, discussion and dialog. From August 31 to September 5, all of Linz becomes a stage set for media installations, screenings and sound sculptures — a most enthralling experience for highly diversified audiences.

Ars Electronica is confronting the challenges of a complex world. How can we take optimal advantage of available opportunities? How can computer programs be made user-friendlier and how can they be designed to let the individual user assess the potential consequences of their use? What characteristics ought to be displayed by hardware that lets all people join Information Society. And which role do artists as trailblazers and art as an experimental domain play in light of this immense and rapidly moving deluge of information, options and permanent changes?

The 2006 Ars Electronica Festival’s theme symposium will be curated by John Maeda who, in his capacity as world-renowned graphic designer, visual artist and scholar at the MIT Media Lab, has been at the forefront of thinking about simplicity in the Digital Age.

Official Website: http://www.aec.at/en/festival2006/