Ars Electronica: Facing the Future: A Survey of Two Decades (Electronic Culture: History, Theory, and Practice) [Paperback]

Timothy Druckrey (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 19, 2001 | Series: Electronic Culture: History, Theory, and Practice

For more than two decades, Ars Electronica has maintained a pivotal position in the history and development of electronic media by linking artistic practice and critical theory in an ongoing discourse on the effects of digital media on creativity and culture.

From the outset, the Ars Electronica Festival and symposium have brought together experts in the sciences, philosophy, sociology, and art to debate and to encounter the rich possibilities of computers as fundamental to the future—of art and no less of culture itself.

The vivid evolution of the works thus presented (artistic, historical, and theoretical) is documented in a series of publications that stand as crucial to any clear understanding of media art. Drawing on the abundant and inventive resources of the publications and archive, Ars Electronica: Facing the Future brings together many of the essential contributions that form the core of a contemporary art long dismissed as too technical or inaccessible.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Ars Electronica is an annual festival for art, technology, and society held in Linz, Austria. In addition to a competition in computer arts, the festival provides a forum for discussing electronic and digital media, their evolution, and their place within the culture at large. The Ars Electronica Center (www.aec.at) maintains an archive of past papers presented at the festival and Ars Electronica: Facing the Future culls some of the more interesting, and in many cases, prescient of those.

The essays are divided into three areas--history, theory, and practice--and range in topics from an essay Robert Moog presented in 1984 called "MIDI--What It Is and What It Means to Electronic Artists" to the Critical Art Ensemble's "Slacker Luddites" presented in 1995. There are excerpts from Otto Piene's writings on his Sky Art and a brief description of Karl Simm's interactive "evolutionary" art, in which pieces of computer code "propagate" to form new images in a form of "survival of the aesthetically fit." Steve Mann discusses his work in Humanistic Intelligence that "challenges the notion of environmental intelligence and ubiquitous surveillance machines" and focuses on wearable devices such as his wireless Web cam that makes "smart people" rather than "smart rooms."

The authors include artists, cultural philosophers, theorists, and educators in computer science and artificial intelligence and researchers in virtual reality, telecommunications, and media. While casual readers may find the sparsely illustrated, scholarly writing too technical and theoretical, those in the community of digital/electronic arts will be happy to have this convenient collection. --Angelynn Grant

Topics covered: Essays from Ars Electronica festivals (1979-1999), covering history, theory, and practice of digital/electronic arts and technology in society and culture. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Timothy Druckrey is an independent curator and writer and editor of Ars Electronica: Facing the Future (MIT Press, 1999). He lectures internationally on the social impact of digital media, the transformations of representation, and communication in interactive and networked environments.

Product Details

• Paperback: 457 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press (February 19, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262541270
• ISBN-13: 978-0262541275
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,500,002 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)