Prix Ars Electronica is the festival’s contest which attracted 2714 works from 85 countries this year. (Incidentally, the Japan Media Arts Festival had 1375 entries from 20 countries.)

Koji Yamamura and Meiwadenki took Second Prize in the Computer Animation category and Interactive Art category respectively. With Astro Twin and Cosmos taking Grand Prize in the Digital Music category, Japanese artists were particularly conspicuous this year.

Meiwadenki “Tsukuba Series”

Five exhibitions were showcased: “Cyberarts 2003”, “Ars Electronica Centre Exhibition”, “CODE Exhibition”, “Electro Lobby”, and a student project, “Campus”.

Ryota Kuwakubo “Block Jam”

“Cyber Arts 2003” showcased the events prize-winning works. Japanese Art was represented through the “Tsukuba Series” by Meiwadenki, “Block Jam” by Ryota Kuwakubo and “Streetscape” by Iori Nakai.

dECOi “Aegis Hyposurface”

Personally I found dECOi‘s (France) “Aegis Hyposurface” interesting. The work involves controlling dampers via a computer and transforming metallic polygons three-dimensionally. When the whole thing begins to move, it is powerful and compelling. I just wonder what the production costs totalled up to.

Agnes Meyer-Brandis “Earth core laboratory and elf-scan”

Another piece was “Earth core laboratory and elf-scan” by Agnes Meyer-Brandis (Germany). A cross- stratum of the earth had been cylindrically cut, and reveals fairy figures inside when scanned. It is sweet, with a different drama being played out in each layer.