SOFTWARE.

Jury: Amy Alexander, Margarete Jahrmann, David Rokeby

Software art is still a relatively new field, but it is clearly emerging beyond its Infancy. In the earliest years of software art activity there was a push for artists to create projects that worked not simply as transparent tools to generate something else, but that critically reflected on the nature of software. Software art was something that occasionally emerged as part of activity whose main goal lay elsewhere. In contrast, many of the works we screened this year reflected a self-consciousness on the part of the artist. These pieces were clearly conceived from the beginning as “software art” . But “software art" is hard to make, and growing up is a struggle. Software art comes from the realms of both software and art - and sometimes its “parents" each try too hard to pattern it on their own image. But there is a visceral sense amongst practitioners that software art is a practise unto itself. It still reflects both parents’ genes, but, despite some growing pains, is developing into something that no longer falls under the authority of either one. Practitioners are walking out into uncharted territory, and even when the results are not successful, the process Is invaluable. (...) Software art can open the door to reflection on software’s role in culture. By exposing its texts - literally and through opening itself up to analysis and critical discussion - software art exposes its own subjectivity. So it gives us a handle on examining the texts of software at large, which normally hide “behind the curtain” of interface, output, the illusions of pure utility and transparency, and the fiction of “objective” technology. (...)

Honorable Mentions
Der Schlaf der Vernunft, Johne/Zahn (de)
SuPerVillainizer, LAN (ch)
animal.pl, Alex McLean (gb)
exegaze, Niederberger, Passath, Wlodkowski (at)
txtz ware, Projekt Gnutenberg (de)