A lecture by Stocker was held at NTT-ICC during his stay in Japan. One of the audience members asked him a question, ‘What do you think about Disneyland?’ Stocker answered the question, ‘Everyone already knows what happens in Disneyland and there’s nothing really interesting there.’ A week of Ars Electronica was full of imagination of the uncertain future.

Why don’t you experience this theme park that enables you to take part in the future?

Here is some information for those who want to visit this one week theme park. The information about the Ars Electronica festival is available on the organization’s web site. It’s possible to reserve rooms at some special hotels (the charges can be discounted for festival visitors) and make inquireis about the festival through the website. They are kind enough to quickly answer any questions.

You only have to reserve a room through the web site, get a plane ticket to Linz and fly. A reasonable plane ticket to Linz is available at Lufthansa (via Frankfurt), Austria Airline (via Wien) and Swiss Air (via Zurich). You can find information at the information bureau in the airport specially prepared for the festival during its run.

I recommend Hotel Wolfinger. It’s a classic hotel which faces toward the central square with a distinctive quality reminiscent of the turn of the century. The room charge including breakfast is about 75 US dollars. It’s reasonable. But it will be one of the hotels for VIPs during the period, so make your reservations early.

To submit your works to Prix Ars Electronica, you first have to inquire at the web site of Ars Electronica Center. Then an entry sheet will be sent out to you early next year. Prix regards the works themselves as important, not the backgrounds of creators, and has become a good means for lots of young artists such as Kazuhiko Hachiya to make their debut on the world stage. It’s worth a try.

Ars Electronica 1999
Date: September 4th – 9th, 1999
Place: Ars-Electronica-Straße 1, 4040 Linz, Austria
Tel: +43 732 72720
http://www.aec.at