CyberArts 2006: International Compendium Prix Ars Electronica

Since 1987, the year of its inception, the Prix Ars Electronica--the largest cyberarts prize in the world, financially and otherwise--has served as a barometer for trends in the digital arts. It documents shifts in societal and artistic approaches, perspectives and aesthetics. And contemporary media arts are undergoing fundamental changes, not just in technology, but in spirit and scope, expanding and transcending traditional boundaries. Social context has become just as pivotal in information media as elsewhere in the contemporary art world. Digital spaces are altering the processes of perception, open-source programming languages generating new creative potential, visual storytelling presenting dream worlds and nightmarish visions, and digital images and sounds turning into material that can be remixed as desired by any end user. Once again the book, DVD and CD presentations in 2006's Cyber Arts: International Compendium Prix Ars Electronica distill the essence of today's culturally oriented media discourse.