Linz/Geneva, 14 January 2014.  CERN¹ data analysis will be the inspiration for the third Prix Ars Electronica² Collide @ CERN, which was today awarded to the Japanese artist, Ryoji Ikeda³, who lives and works in Paris.

Ryoji Ikeda is one of the world’s leading artists who create moving-image, sculptural, sound and new media works that explore the potential to perceive the invisible multi-substance of data that permeates our world. The Prix Ars Electronica Collide @ CERN jury⁴ said that they were impressed by his ambitious research project to look at data in quantum dimensions.

“We are delighted that this renowned artist who has an international reputation for his audio/visual installations, which combine outstanding technological and artistic skills, is our third Prix Ars Electronica Collide @ CERN award winner”, said Gerfried Stocker, Artistic Director of Ars Electronica Linz. “It will be fascinating to see how CERN’s science and technology influences the direction of his work for years to come.”

 “It is fantastic that an artist of his calibre sees CERN’s processing and analysis of data as a source of inspiration”, said CERN’s Director-General Rolf Heuer. “The CERN data centre handles about one petabyte of data every day – the equivalent of around 210,000 DVDs – from the experiments at the LHC, so it is appropriate that the heart of our scientific discoveries will become the heart of artistic discovery too.”

Ikeda will visit CERN with his mentor from the Ars Electronica Futurelab in Spring 2014, for an initial induction visit, when he will be matched with his science inspiration partner from CERN. Owing to heavy international commitments, Ikeda will spread his residency over two years, starting the first part of his residency at CERN in July 2014. He will appear twice at the Ars Electronica Festival: in 2014 and at the end of his residency in 2015.

“The residency at CERN and Ars Electronica Futurelab gives me the extremely valuable freedom of time and space to research and explore new areas at CERN - one of the world’s leading centres of technology - without any pressure, which is something I have been longing for, ” said Ikeda. “I am very excited to begin.”

The jury also awarded an Honorary Mention to the German installation artist Agnes Meyer-Brandis⁵ who will be offered a one week curated visit to CERN as her runner’s up prize, to inspire her with ideas for new work.

1. CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is the world's leading laboratory for particle physics. It has its headquarters in Geneva. At present, its member states are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Romania is a candidate for accession. Israel and Serbia are associate members in the pre-stage to membership. India, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United States of America, Turkey, the European Commission and UNESCO have observer status.
2. The Prix Ars Electronica Collide @ CERN awards international digital artists residency at CERN and Ars Electronica, as well as 10,000 Euros prize money. See www.aec.at/prix/de/collide/ Collide @ CERN is part of CERN’s policy for engagement with the arts. See: arts.web.cern.ch/
3. Ryoji Iekda has a reputation as one of the few international artists working convincingly across both visual and sonic media. He elaborately orchestrates sound, visuals, materials, physical phenomena and mathematical notions into immersive live performances and installations. He has performed and exhibited worldwide including Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Melbourne; MIT, Boston; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Sónar Festival Barcelona; Tate Modern, London; Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media; Le Laboratoire, Paris; Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo; as well as electronic music festivals and small DJ clubs..http://www.ryojiikeda.com/
4. The Prix Ars Electronica Collide @ CERN Jury 2014 comprised; Horst Hoertner – Director Futurelab, Ars Electronica ; Mathew Gardiner – Senior Researcher and Artist at Futurelab, Ars Electronica; Ariane Koek – International Arts, CERN ; Michael Doser – CERN Cultural Board member and physicist ; Programme Coordinator: Johanna Mathuer.
5. Agnes Meyer-Brandis is a German installation artist, who has become recently very well known for her Moon Goose Colony, an internationally exhibited artwork and film in which she raises a flock of geese and teaches them to become astronauts. http://www.ffur.de/