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Finally. Monday, the 15th of September. Nearly Midnight - when those who care about culture - watch TV, my film was aired on national TV. 12% Market share. 95.000 viewers. A guy who sent an email to the TV station, saying: ‘That guy in the film, I want his job. Put me in contact with him.’ And a screening party of 20 people in my house. Everybody in my circle got involved - even my favourite sushi place around the corner.

It is astonishing, the feeling that hits you afterwards. To hear the applause of the people you invited. The encouraging phone calls and SMS you instantly get. The moment you realize it’s like standing in a queue of an over-crowded amusement park. You wait 2 hours in line in order to get the pleasure of riding 2 minutes in that roller-coaster train. 2 years of investing unconditional love into a piece that was gone in 34′13″. Have I fallen into the classical post-creative-process mood? 

My mum, the queen of motivation would clap her hands and say ‘what’s next?’. So do I. Buy and watch my DVD. It will be out in November. One hour of further unconditional love.

This is an announcement for those who have been waiting for it… and of course those who didn’t even know it. My film, the result of 3,5 years of work is finally getting published. What a process it has been. Day and night of writing, organizing, critizising, adapting, revising, laughing, crying and finally smiling. A screening date. A good placement. A PLACEMENT!

 September 15. ORF 2. Culture programme ‘art.genossen’. 23.30h.

You gotta check out this festival next year. ARS Electronica. A festival for art, technology and society. Amazing installations, great young international artists, unlimited inspiration. Here my personal favourites.

http://reactable.iua.upf.edu/

The reactable is an intelligent musical instrument specially conceived for multi-user performances. There’s room for several players at this round table; visible on its surface are geometric figures, each of which symbolizes a specific sound. Moving the figures back and forth, rotating or interlinking them modifies the sounds they produce. With its highly intuitive, user-friendly interface, it can be played by anyone. But this is not just some music-making toy; the reactable is a genuine instrument and, accordingly, it takes some practice to get the most out of it. Proof of this was recently provided by Scandinavian artist Björk, who used one on her latest world tour. The reactable has been singled out for recognition with the 2008 Golden Nica in the Digital Musics category.

www.juliusvonbismarck.com/fulgurator

Image Fulgurator is amazing to behold—due in equal measure to its ingenious concept and its simple technical implementation. It makes it possible to manipulate photos and to do so at precisely the moment they’re being shot. This subversive witchcraft functions with any camera—as long as the flash is in use. The Image Fulgurator is synchronized with the flash to project some random message onto the subject being focused on at the moment the picture is snapped. Almost invisible to the naked eye, this ghostly image comes to the fore on the photo that eventually emerges. The Image Fulgurator received the 2008 Golden Nica in the Interactive Art category.

A New Cultural Advertising Project is an experimental new form of advertisement using T-shirts. In this project, using the Ars Electronica Festival 2008 as its target “product”, the artists break the traditional boundaries of advertising to regain its value, effectiveness, and appeal.

I recommend to go to LINZ in 2009. It is Europe’s cultual capital 2009 and worth seeing during the ARS Electronica festival in Early September.