transmediale 2003

Conceptualiszed as a counter-weight to economic and military forms of globalisation, transmediale.03 presented itself as an artistic "global player": aesthetic and critical strategies were called upon to create playful ideas to handle globalisation in ironic and humorous manners. Questions about the suppression of artistic "dialects" in favour of a global language of the arts and about the general change of artistic practices and strategies caused by globalisation were discussed at the conference session.

The connection between globalisation and play was made through computer games: on the one hand they can be seen as a form of entertainment and on the other hand they are examples for strategies of action in politics, military and society. Does this mean that computer games shape the world of the future? The media cultural labratories investigated the experimental crossing of political, cultural and technological borders in order to re-define art in urban and media contexts. Opposed to the crossing of media-artistic boundaries the jury statement discovered that the image is still understood to be the most trustworthy medium to evoke notions of authenticity and truth.