[Critique by work category] Web

Lately, there has been a concern worldwide that the Web arts have been deteriorating due to lack of artists, which was brought about by a rapid growth of advanced commercial Web arts. Against such a background, it was really welcome news for the development of this field that we received over 200 applications from here and abroad this year. In addition, we could feel the artists' enthusiasm through their works. While some works were not suitable for the intention of this festival in terms of artistry, we received numerous works with a variety of themes and techniques, among which we found superb works of striking originality. Among many works of excellence in terms of both techniques and expressions, such as a work of various faces of a city depicted by leveraging the programming techniques of Stanza from England, images of interactive dance performance created by Nicolas Clauss et al. from France, and a work also with city themes created by Stadt Sound Station from Germany, artworks by Japanese Web artists were no less outstanding. For expressions, there were relatively many works that combined interactivity with animation, which clearly demonstrates that the Web is establishing its role as a platform for interactive arts and images. There were also a number of works with cultural and social viewpoints and with an international approach, which seemed to be a unique feature characterizing the Web arts. The diversity and potential of Web arts can be partially understood by viewing through the works recommended by jury members. We look forward to seeing how far these potentials will go by next year.