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Abbreviation | RIAT |
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Predecessor | 5uper.net |
Formation | 2012 |
Merger of | Artistic Bokeh Artistic Technology Lab |
Type | Non-profit organization |
Legal status | Active |
Location | |
Fields | Open Hardware Publishing Cryptocurrencies Media art |
Website | riat |
The Research Institute for Arts and Technology (RIAT) is an independent and international research institute established in 2012 [1] in Austria and operating internationally. The aim of the institute is to investigate how technology and art can relate and inform each other in areas that include: open hardware, publishing, epistemic culture, cryptocurrencies and the blockchain. [2] In 2017 RIAT was recognized by the European Commission and Ars Electronica for innovation at the interface of science, technology and art with a STARTS Prize Honorary Mention. [3]
![]() | This section needs to be updated.(October 2021) |
The organisation began as Artistic Bokeh in 2012. It established itself as the Research Institute for Arts and Technology in 2015 after artists Bernhard Cella and Matthias Tarasiewicz made a decision to depart the University of Applied Arts Vienna. Since 2012 Cella and Tarasiewicz had both been leading research projects supported by the Austrian Science Fund [4] [5] at the Center of Art and Knowledge Transfer within the University of Applied Arts Vienna. [6] [7] [8] Alongside the projects that were relocated from the University of Applied Arts Vienna, the other Viennese art initiatives Coded Cultures, 5uper.net and Artistic Bokeh were also integrated into the institute. [9]
In July 2018, RIAT researcher Andrew Newman announced at the Gray Area Festival that the institute now refers to itself as the RIAT Institute for Future Cryptoeconomics [10] [11] although it is still legally named Research Institute for Arts and Technology. [12] Since then the institute has predominantly focused on blockchain and cryptocurrency research, joining a consortium of Austrian research institutions to establish the Austrian Blockchain Center. [13] [14] In November 2018 the Austrian Blockchain Center received €20 million in funding from the Austrian Research Promotion Agency [15] and is described as the world's largest blockchain competence center. [16] RIAT leads the research area Data Science Methods for Blockchain Analytics & Predictions in partnership with the Austrian Institute of Technology. [13]
RIAT runs an artist-in-residence program with the MuseumsQuartier in Vienna that focuses on research practices at the intersection of arts and technology. [17] The residency program started in 2005 through 5uper.net [18] and continued in 2012 with Artistic Bokeh. [19] In 2016 the residency program was expanded through a new partnership between the Research Institute for Arts and Technology and the Museumsquartier. [17] In 2017, RIAT shifted the focus of the residency program to inviting artists, researchers and developers working in cryptoeconomics. [20] [21]