Alongside the works nominated for transmediale awards in the Interactive and Artistic Software categories, the media lounge presents a further range of important works competing in the Interactive section. The projects on display can be divided roughly into three groups. The first group reflects the distinct bias in favour of audiovisual composition systems shown among the 270 entries - including 150 Net projects and CD-ROM or DVD-ROM based works - submitted to the Interactive competition. The selected projects originate from very different art contexts; comparing the varying emphasis placed on the individual components making up such audiovisual systems can be very illuminating when they are viewed side-by-side.
The second group reflects the observation that projects rooted in the established genres of Net Art and interactive story­telling, and therefore less concerned with advancing formal aspects, remain capable of fascinating the viewer due to their expressiveness and formal excellence.
The third group encompasses projects soliciting collaborative action, namely platforms defining themselves according to the input of their users and viewing the Net as a participatory system. Adhering to the ‘do it yourself’ principle and both demanding and promoting media competence, these projects propose models for action that people are hesitant to embra­ce in the present-day digital world but that in the near future may well be part of everyday digital life.