20^th MFRU 2.0

MFRU 2014 – the International Festival of Computer Arts celebrates its 20th anniversary of exploring the bright and the dark sides ofcomputer art. Never before has is appeared so convenient, yet so complex at the same time. When one thinks of the future, one anticipated that computer art with, technics and technology will continue to make great strides together. Since the beginnings of the festival in 1994, we have been making bold steps to develop the festival to its present form – 2.0. In addition to the interactive breakaway from the modern World Wide Web and the modes of its use, the MFRU Festival is heading into its third decade - the entirely intermedia age.

Between 1994 and 2014, there has been a huge development in computer technology which, in effect, has brought about development in art. A whole new field of intermedia art has developed. The MFRU Festival dates back to the times when the terms 'computer art' and 'cybernetic art' were used instead of the term "intermedia art', which better defines the scope of modern digital technologies and the possibilities of their use. A lot of retronyms have changed during this period, which reveals the commitment to development, and confirms the continuity of the initial conceptual design. Computer development and the consequent emergence of the World Wide Web 2.0 have changed the whole society and facilitated the use of new media and means of creative expression in art.

In the beginning, the Internet was static (Web 1.0), which means it allowed users only to read data and search for information. In the last few years, this field has also witnessed a revolution. O'Riley named it Web 2.0 – “the business revolution in computer industry, which has enabled the move from the static use of the Internet to the proper intermedia platform within which applications intended for direct interaction between the user and the digital world are becoming increasingly important” (O'Reilly, 2004). We are not talking only about technical changes, but also gout the increasingly simpler use of known tools. ‘Web 2.0’ thus combines different solutions and contains web diaries, social networks, technology, mobile applications, etc. It is more user-friendly, the contents are more readily available and it allows users to play a bigger role in their co-creation. ‘Web 2.0’ is used for web communication, cooperation, creation, search for information, publishing, business and other web services. One could say that opportunities are only limited by imagination and innovation. The key word is interactivity - with the development of social media, the Instagram service, web blogs, selfies and the like, the use of computers has become much more widespread among the consumers. Today it is almost impossible to find an individual without some type of Internet device at home – most people have a personal computer and a smart phone. We live in a modern technical society and this reflects in art, as well. It is understandable that artists draw their inspiration from the society and use the tools which are available to them. Art has used the computer as a medium to step into the digital era.