ARS Electronica Presents ORIGIN - HOW IT ALL BEGINS, August 31 - Sept 6

 "Origin - How It All Begins" is the theme of Ars Electronica 2011. It will run from August 31st to September 6th. In cooperation with CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, the festival will be dedicated to the fascinating world of leading-edge research on the basic principles of the cosmos. Leading experts at the world's largest research facility in the field of particle physics will be attending the Ars Electronica symposium and reporting about their work on the Large Hadron Collider. And beyond that-the Festival of Art, Technology and Society will scrutinize the "CERN model" itself and its actual significance. This is a matter of a space conducive to exploration in which thousands of scientists from numerous countries collaboratively investigate, conceptualize and innovate. And this is a matter of latitude that we also urgently need beyond the realm of advanced physics for the development of other things-social utopias, for instance. So, what preconditions do we have to put in place for it all to begin here too?

Create Your World: Future Festival of the Next Generation

When we consider these various facets of the genesis of innovation-how, where and by whom-our attention inevitably turns to the younger generation. In this spirit, Ars Electronica is launching a "festival within the Festival" expressly for youngsters. "Create Your World" is the title of this future festival of the next generation that is meant to inspire young people, to get them interconnected, and simply to encourage them to give some thought to the world of tomorrow, to come up with new ways of configuring life on this part of the planet, and to experimentally implement their innovations. "Create Your World" is an endeavor to initiate a long-term process of design in a regional context-the local settings of everyday life, the technologies we need, our social fabric and our art-and to provide encouragement, advice, aid and infrastructure to youngsters as they go about creating their world.

Social Media and Open Society

The younger generation also occupies the focal point of a themed conference at this year's festival. "Social Media and Open Society" will inquire into the sources of social and political renewal. In light of the very dramatic recent developments in Arabic countries, this conference will spotlight members of the young generation who are using Facebook and Twitter to get connected and exchange ideas-in times of rebellion as well as the times thereafter when it comes down to actually building a democratic society.

Since 1979: Ars Electronica Festival

Consistent interdisciplinarity and open encounters involving hundreds of international experts, artists and highly diverse audiences define the essence of the Ars Electronica Festival. Since 1979, this world-renowned annual event has been dedicated to staging intense confrontations with social and cultural phenomena that are the upshots of scientific and technological progress. Symposia, exhibitions, performances, concerts and interventions take these encounters out beyond the confines of classic conference spaces and cultural venues and get them out into the public sphere where they belong.

 

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