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AUSTRALIAN ARTISTS PUNCH ABOVE THEIR WEIGHT IN WORLD OF ELECTRONIC ART

2009 Prix Ars Electronica awards confirm Australians as world leaders in electronic arts.

Australian artists are among five projects awarded at the 2009 Prix Ars Electronica, the world’s pre-eminent digital and media arts festival and competition which opens tomorrow in Linz, Austria.

The Ars Electronica competition this year received over 3000 entrants, representing 68 countries with a strong presence by Australian artists, all recognised by an Award for Distinction or Honorary Mentions.

Early adopters of new technologies, Australian artists have consistently achieved high accolades for their creative and pioneering electronic art, including the inaugural Golden Nica for hybrid art awarded in 2007 to the West Australian art science laboratory, SymbioticA.

“So much of our past electronic art happened on the smell of an oily rag and through the sheer determination of our artists,” said Kathy Keele, CEO of the Australia Council for the Arts. “It’s vital that we continue to support our artists working on ground breaking art and international collaborations, so that innovation continues to flourish.”

Highlights of the Ars Electronica winners include Australian artists David Haines and Joyce Hinterding who received the second highest honour, the Award of Distinction in hybrid art for EarthStar ñ an installation which examines the mystical and powerful qualities of the sun. https://www.sunvalleyresearch.net/?p=340

The collaborative team of Damien Cooper, Robin Fox, Paula Levis, Frieder Weiss, Ben Frost and Chunky Move’s artistic director Gideon Obarzanek achieved an Honorary Mention for their beautiful dance-video-music-laser performance, Mortal Engine.https://www.chunkymove.com.au/in-the-studio.aspx#2|1|2

 

Philip Gamblen and Guy Ben-Ary, researchers from the award winning SymbioticA,collaborated with engineers from the Dr Steve Potter Lab (USA) for the art-science project Silent Barrage, which also received an Honorary Mention. https://www.symbiotica.uwa.edu.au/silentbarrage

Earthstar and Silent Barrage are both part of the Prix Ars Electronica Exhibition Cyberarts 09, where the best entries are exhibited from 4 September ñ 4 October 2009 https://www.ok-centrum.at/english/english.html

“Our hybrid artists, despite our distance from the rest of the world, have developed a huge appetite for pushing new technologies and engaging in the international electronic arts community,” said Andrew Donovan, Director for Inter-Arts at the Australia Council for the Arts. “We’ve always had a strong maverick and improvisational approach to hybrid arts, which is why the worldís leading electronic artists continue seek our creative input.”

Maintaining this lead in electronic arts, 20 Australians artists and speakers were a strong presence through their collaborative works, discussions and presentations staged last month at the 2009 International Symposium for Electronic Arts (ISEA) in Belfast ñ another of the worldís top electronic arts events.

More information from creative.gov.au

Media contact: Emma Heath, Australia Council for the Arts

P: (+61) 2 9215 9030  M: (+61) 413 768 588  E: e.heath@creative.gov.au

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