Ars Electronica 2018: A Tech-Heavy Festival Lacking Artistic Depth

The 39th edition of Ars Electronica in Linz, held from September 6 to 10, attracted over 100,000 visitors across 600 events in 12 venues, including POSTCITY, OK Centre For Contemporary Art, Ars Electronica Center, and St. Mary's Cathedral. Despite high expectations, the festival was criticized for prioritizing technology and design over genuine artistic expression. The theme of 'error' was explored primarily through conferences, with few dedicated artworks, except for the video installation 'Poetic AI' at the Ars Electronica Center, which used AI and machine learning algorithms to create a sequence of refraction errors. The closing Big Concert featured classical music, dancers, and a hissing industrial robot arm, but felt like a superficial equation of art plus technology. The author notes a lack of projects where technology serves art or vice versa, and suggests that the festival's vast, heterogeneous program made it difficult to find cultural gems. Despite these critiques, the event exuded positive energy and attracted a global community of artists, researchers, and enthusiasts.