Thanks to the Ars Electronica Esch2022 Luxembourg Garden project, the European Capital of Culture will be part of the Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, Austria.
From 9 to 13 September 2020, the electronic art festival "Ars Electronica" will take place in the Austrian city of Linz. The European Capital of Culture Esch2022 will be representing Luxembourg with the project “Ars Electronica Esch2022 Luxembourg Garden”. This first collaboration marks the beginning of a long-term cooperation, the goal of which is for this art form to reach even more people through artists such as Mary-Audrey Ramirez.
“Remix Culture” is the main theme of the European Capital of Culture, and the foundation of the collaboration with the Ars Electronica. On the occasion of this festival, Esch2022 will present an interactive multimedia experience bringing to life the past, the present and the potential future of the former industrial site of Esch-Belval in Luxembourg. In the space of Blast Furnace A in Belval, visitors can discover the installation "Anywhere" by Luxembourg artist Mary-Audrey Ramirez during the festival in Linz.
Artistic performances will bring "Anywhere" and the old steel site to life, including for culture enthusiasts located beyond Belval thanks to multimedia technology. Festivalgoers will be able to discover the blast furnace site in a video game, in which they can play the role of "guides" and use a tablet to take the remote controls of a "runner", following the movement of Japanese dancer Yuko Kominami. Equipped with "GoPro" cameras, she will explore the area and Mary-Audrey Ramirez's installation artistically for them. The cameras will transmit her movements and thus create a unique experience for the spectators.
During their journey, the dancer and spectators will meet the fantastic creatures of Mary-Audrey Ramirez. The "soft sculptures" representing giant creatures inspired by video games are part of a fantastical vision of Belval's future. Supernatural beings erase the boundaries between fiction and reality as well as between virtual and physical spaces. The exhibition will be open from 11:00 to 18:00 for the duration of the festival.
It is also possible to follow the interactions between Linz and Belval in Annexe22, where ten “live gaming” sessions will be broadcast on a large screen. Other creatures from the exhibition will be on display at Annexe22, but also at the Ars Electronica Center, Linz's "museum of the future".
This marks the first step in an important cross-border collaboration, which lays the foundations for future projects.
