Harvard’s metaLAB attends festival on ‘Error — the Art of Imperfection’
LINZ, Austria — An estimated 100,000 people swarmed to Linz for Ars Electronica, Europe’s premier festival for art, technology, and social reflection, Sept. 6-10. Harvard’s metaLAB was also there, offering critique amid the techno-positivism as five members exhibited three current projects. Ars Electronica has been an annual event in Linz since 1986, part of a deliberate effort to change the city’s image (Linz is known for being Austria’s most industrial city and Hitler’s hometown). This year’s theme, “Error — the Art of Imperfection,” included art installations, product exhibitions, science experiments, lectures, performances, and more, all held in 14 public spaces across Linz, with the main venue being PostCity, a massive, multilevel abandoned postal facility — complete with spiraling mail chutes people could slide down. The idea behind “Error” is that, on one hand, an error can be an opportunity rather than a mistake. Yet on the other hand, with big data surveillance,...