Ars Electronica 2009

Human Nature & 30th anniversary

3 sep 2009
8 sep 2009

At the very outset of the 21st century, it’s becoming increasingly clear that we have entered a new age here on Earth: the Anthropocene. An age definitively characterized by humankind’s massive impact on our physical surroundings. An age whose most emblematic manifestations have been population explosion, climate change, the poisoning of the environment and our venturing into outer space. Heretofore. But now, it’s not only the environment that we’re changing. It’s the fundamentals of life itself—the fundamentals of our own life—that are being subjected to humankind’s will to custom-design our world.

Vergroot

Ars Electronica 2009 - Image from Ars E-website.

This HUMAN NATURE will occupy the focal point at the next Ars Electronica Festival September 3-8, 2009 amidst a mix of speculative futuristic designs and provocative actionism, philosophical debate and analytical scrutiny. Thirty years after its founding, profound human curiosity is still the essential core of this global conclave’s approach, and we continue to intrepidly peer far into the future.In Ars Electronica’s signature fashion, this research will be carried out at an array of locations that go beyond classic conference venues and cultural spaces to pervade the entire cityscape. For the first time, the epicenter of these activities will be the new Ars Electronica Center that debuted on January 2, 2009.

The 2009 Ars Electronica Symposium is being curated by Isaac Mao (US) and David Sasaki (US).

Ars Electronica 2009 takes places from 3 September until 8 September 2009 in Linz, Austria. For the full program, ticket and hotel information, check out the Ars Electronica website at the beginning of July.