go public! is a term used in the context of the new economy, meaning the Initial Public Offering (IPO) on a stock market. Originally, however, this meant the publication of information, the step into the public arena. In the digital era, progressive media practice and the commercialisation of public space are becoming more pervasive. The mass media are multiplying their channels and are homogenising their contents. Democratic online forums, the creative development of new technologies, and the expansion of the public surveillance apparatus via video and data surveillance, are all leading to the development of a global info-sphere with both new borders and new room for manoeuvre.

go public! was an exhortation to artists and visitors to the transmediale.02, to create publicity, to go into the public arena, and to develop new creative ideas for the design and the use of the public space in the digital era. The exhibition hosted interactive installations, partially internet and screen-based works, and the international conference was devoted to changes in the public sphere in the digital era.