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Prix Ars Electronica 2011 – ...and the Golden Nicas go to...

26 May 2011 | 

This year saw 3,611 projects from 74 countries competing in the Prix Ars Electronica international cyberarts competition, now in its twenty-fifth year. The press conference at which the winners were announced was held on May 26th 2011 at the voestalpine Stahlwelt center in Linz, Austria; the awards ceremony will be held on September 2nd 2011.

First held in 1987, the Prix Ars Electronica is an important barometer of international trends in the media arts world. Every year, a jury of leading experts awards Golden Nicas—the Oscars of the media arts world—in seven categories reflecting the diversity of today's media arts: Hybrid Art, Computer Animation/Film/VFX, Interactive Art, Digital Music & Sound Art, Digital Communities, [the next idea] voestalpine Art and Technology Grant, and u19 Create Your World (awarded to young people based in Austria).

Support for arts and technology

voestalpine is a long-time sponsor of the Prix Ars Electronica. [the next idea] voestalpine Art and Technology Grant provides support to media artists as they develop concepts and ideas—artistic and social innovations, and technological and scientific approaches—and advance them to the next level. It seeks to nurture projects in three key future-oriented fields: energy, mobility and access. Competitors submit entries in areas such as alternative models for addressing the challenge of energy and resources; concepts and ideas for a mobile, globalised world; and activities and projects for ensuring broader access to and participation in the possibilities offered by today's information society.

2011 winner of [the next idea] voestalpine Art and Technology Grant Choke Point Project / P2P Foundation (NL)

The Choke Point Project addresses the question of who actually exercises control over the Internet. As a general rule, the Internet is perceived as a decentralized medium not subject to constraints imposed by power structures or authoritarian entities. However, recent events have shown this is not so: in practice, politicians can switch off the Internet for entire countries. The P2P Foundation's Choke Point Project aims to pinpoint key Internet nodes and demonstrate the ease with which constraints can be imposed on Internet connections for entire segments of the population. The goal will be to create visualizations in the form of "maps of the Internet", and to assemble a variety of approaches and strategies for sidestepping such constraints. This will help ensure the Internet is liberated from the grasp of power structures, and that control passes to the individual.

http://www.chokepointproject.net/
http://blog.p2pfoundation.net