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The Prix Ars Electronica Archive is a collection enabling search and viewing of all the submissions since 1987. The award-winning projects are documented with catalogue texts and audio-visual media. All other submissions can be searched by title/artist and displayed with year, category in list form. Please cite the credits (artwork name, artist and photographer) and only use the materials if your article is related to Ars Electronica.
Ottos Mops (trotzt)
KP Ludwig John,
Bertram Quosdorf
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All of the interactive part of the CD-ROM is based on some 100 works by the Austrian word wizard Ernst Jandl, the self-proclaimed and widely acknowledged "avenger of language".
The CD-ROM includes many outrageous and sometimes even weird graphical wordplay games and a rather unique scoring system linked to each of the approximately 70 different settings. For example, there is a variation of the old arcade game "Breakout" with words and sounds rather than bricks to shoot at.
These interactive adaptations stand between you and the JANDL: solve the riddles and you will find the master himself, accompanied by his dog, the "mops", i.e. pug. The background of this is that "Ottos Mops" ("Otto's pug") is Ernst Jandl's most famous work.
"Ottos Mops" presents the ultimate quest for the Jandl and his pug in a fierce battle against time.
At the beginning of each run, you are asked to enter your name through the keyboard. Press return and you are asked to enter your birth date in a dd-mm-yy format. Press return again, and your name will be scrambled. This is a consistent feature of Ernst Jandl's work and just a hint of what the game may have in store for you.
The course of the game is based on a poem entitled "Niederzählung" ("Countdown"). The "electronic" adaptation starts with the current system date and counts down to the moment of your birth. This means that you have a lifetime to find the JANDL. But as in real life, the longer you play, the faster the time elapses. Finally, at the moment of your birth, the game is over - although only for the time being, of course. Your progress is indicated on the right part of the screen, and your secret referee occasionally has a comment to make on the course of your quest.
The CD-ROM includes many outrageous and sometimes even weird graphical wordplay games and a rather unique scoring system linked to each of the approximately 70 different settings. For example, there is a variation of the old arcade game "Breakout" with words and sounds rather than bricks to shoot at.
These interactive adaptations stand between you and the JANDL: solve the riddles and you will find the master himself, accompanied by his dog, the "mops", i.e. pug. The background of this is that "Ottos Mops" ("Otto's pug") is Ernst Jandl's most famous work.
"Ottos Mops" presents the ultimate quest for the Jandl and his pug in a fierce battle against time.
At the beginning of each run, you are asked to enter your name through the keyboard. Press return and you are asked to enter your birth date in a dd-mm-yy format. Press return again, and your name will be scrambled. This is a consistent feature of Ernst Jandl's work and just a hint of what the game may have in store for you.
The course of the game is based on a poem entitled "Niederzählung" ("Countdown"). The "electronic" adaptation starts with the current system date and counts down to the moment of your birth. This means that you have a lifetime to find the JANDL. But as in real life, the longer you play, the faster the time elapses. Finally, at the moment of your birth, the game is over - although only for the time being, of course. Your progress is indicated on the right part of the screen, and your secret referee occasionally has a comment to make on the course of your quest.
KP Ludwig John (D), born 1961, works as a freelance "interactivist" in Munich. He studied photography and art and media technology in Leipzig and Utrecht, and was co-founder of the Media Biennale Leipzig.
Bertram Quosdorf (D), born 1967, studied music in Dresden and worked in various ensembles and orchestras, and also as a theater music composer. He has been an ensemble member of the “statt-theater Fassungslos" since 1987, and much of his work focuses on texts by Ernst Jandl.
Bertram Quosdorf (D), born 1967, studied music in Dresden and worked in various ensembles and orchestras, and also as a theater music composer. He has been an ensemble member of the “statt-theater Fassungslos" since 1987, and much of his work focuses on texts by Ernst Jandl.