The project winner of Share Prize 2007 is:
Human Browser, Cristophe Bruno (Francia)
http://www.iterature.com/human-browser/en/


Honorary mention:
Amazon-noir.com, UBERMORGEN.COM, Paolo Cirio, Alessandro Ludovico 
(AT, USA, IT)
http://www.amazon-noir.com

Jury statement

Alex Adriaansen (director v2 and DEAF, Rotterdam)
Carolyn Christov Bakargiev (chef curator Castello di Rivoli, Torino)
Joasia Krysa (curator / lecturer at the Faculty of Technology, University of Plymouth)
Vicente Matallana (director LaAgencia, Madrid)
Gefried Stocker (director of Ars Electronica, Linz)


In 2006 the Share Festival launched a world wide call for proposals for artists working in the field of digital art and culture. This is the third edition of the Festival and the first time the Share Festival included a prize competition.

From over 200 submitted works, an international jury shortlisted six works that were exhibited at the festival, from which one prize winner is selected. The entries came from all over the world and included diverse art forms addressing a wide range of artistic, social and cultural issues. Many of the entries were interdisciplinary in character, reflecting the diversity of creative approaches. Like with many other festivals, there is one prize only that is not tied to a specific technology or genre but rather to their combination and to the expression of ideas.  

The quality of the entries were high and the majority were from young emerging artists. This confirms the need for platforms where artists can present and reflect on their work and that of their colleagues. In this way, the jury considers the prize to be a stimulus for new production and to create visibillity for digital art practice (still rather peripheral to the contemporary art world).


The theme of the Share Festival 2007 is Digital Affinity/Communities Now. Much consideration is given to processes and protocols that regulate communities through creative, reflexive, technological and innovative exchanges:
Communities then are not just new forms of aggregation, but a way of being and living, a collective and humanitarian project, a culture that links one billion and 80 million people today. The bonds between these people are not just geographical or family based, but inspired by cultural, ideological and political affinity. (Share 2007)

This critical concern is an important one when technologies appear to be more and more social in character sometimes referred to as social technologies or more commonly perhaps web 2.0 but questions remain as to the nature of these social interactions, the quality of participation and the seemingly ineviatble recuperation by big business (YouTube is the latest initiative to go this way). These issues of sociability, popularity and accessibility were noticable in many of the entries for the competition and in particular in the shortlisted works.

 
The jury was also particularly interested in works that do not focus on technology as a mere functional tool but as cultural expression and social critique. At the same time the jury was interested in the impact and interaction of the works with wider communities of interest and diverse audiences that go beyond just art. Shortlisted works rework existing platforms, hardware, software that are familiar to everyday users. The shortlisted works demonstrate emergent models, strategies and proposals to bring into our experience new political and economical relations and realities of contemporary technological culture. They reflect these issues both critically and playfully.


STREAMING PRIZE CEREMONY