An unobjectionable award for sex machines, orgasmotrons and teledildonics.
Hosted by monochrom's Johannes Grenzfurthner.

The winners will be honored with the "Golden Kleene".
Prixxx Arse Elektronika 2009 will be a dignified occasion -- and so we invite you to dress up properly. Surprise us with sex and biotech laboratory related costumes... and maybe win a "Golden Kleene" yourself!

Sex has always led technology. Early photography evolved on the back of dirty photos. Home video recording and VHS tapes gained traction first in the world of porn. And the Internet would never have grown into the insatiable beast we know today without the profitable, technology-driving porn industry.

But what of genetic engineering? Sex toys? Future robot sex?

They're all the territory of Arse Elektronika, an alternative sex-meets-technology conference held in San Francisco (of course). Now in its third year, it kicks off Thursday night at the Roxie Theater, with film screenings, an opening celebration and the Prixxx Arse Elektronika Awards Gala.
Discussions, a hands-on session and presentations will include "Atomic Porn: What is the smallest particle of erotica?", "Sexual Etiquette and Law in the Age of the Panopticon" (hello, Foucault!), "Of Hypercrotch and Nanobot" and "Steampunk Vibrator: DIY?"

Explore that last one at your own risk.

Is it the end of September already? Why, that means that it's almost time for Arse Elektronika -- San Francisco's annual festival devoted to sex, tech, futurism, and, of course, robots and the people who love to fuck them.

Events this week include the Arse Elektronika Film Festival at the Roxie Theater, a series of lectures at the Center for Sex and Culture, talks and panels at PariSoMa and Noisebridge, and performances and installations at Femina Potens Gallery. The Prixxx Arse Elektronika Awards will be presented on October 1 at the Roxie Theater, honoring "sex machines, orgasmatrons, and teledildonics." It truly is quite a world we live in, isn't it?

Op het jaarlijkse congres van de sector, genaamd Arse Elektronika (we verzinnen niets), is hij altijd een keynotespreker. 'Cyberseksspeeltjes zijn de geknipte oplossing voor afstandsliefde', zei hij daar vorig jaar. 'Mensen kunnen via hun computer een hogere graad van intimiteit bereiken dan via lichamelijk contact, dat altijd complicaties met zich meebrengt - ritssluitingen, bh-sluitingen, contraceptie, soa's, noem maar op. Er is ook niets onnatuurlijks aan afstandsseks, veel dieren doen het ook. Krekels maken in de zomer een hels kabaal om duidelijk te maken hoe opgewonden ze zijn, honden ruiken elkaars feromonen van kilometers ver.'

Allen Stein, developer of the Thrillhammer sex machine, is set to host an opening night workshop Oct. 1 at the Arse Elektronika event, where he will discuss the technology behind haptic devices.

Stein said he plans to take the audience on a "trip" through the past 10 years' evolution of commercial teledildonics in the adult industry, as well as shed light on society's first interactions with machine-powered sex.

He also will be on hand to demonstrate some of the latest in sexual technologies, including his own. His lecture is entitled, "Welcome to The First Church of Appliantology-Browser Based Telemetry of Genital Haptic Devices."

This week marks the third annual Arse Elektronika conference, an extravaganza devoted to sex, technology, futurism, and orgasmic robots. If you're in the San Francisco area October 1-4, don't miss the naughty, geeky weirdness. [...] I love a conference about sexual futurism that begins with a long discussion of Iain M. Banks. And so will you!

We're absolutely sure that with the aid of super-futuristic technology that we know is being invented right now, sex in the future will be more amazing than our Cylon-Cylon (plus Replicant, plus Cameron/T9) fantasies could imagine. I mean, I just get stuck thinking of two Summer Glau's kissing. But until then, and barring Chinese manufacturing of a cheap entry-level priced Peep Show Holodeck (patent pending), we have the annual international sex and technology festival Arse Elektronika.

This year's theme "Of Intercourse and Intracourse" promises to be a buffet of futuristic and fantastic sexual innovations, artistic explorations, and virtual hallucinations of the sci-fi-meets-pr0n kind. The thing is, it's in just two weeks and with poeple flying in from all over the world to participate, there are a lot of talks and happenings to choose from. Starting October 1 to the 4th, events will be at various San Francisco locations including Roxie Theater, Center for Sex and Culture, Noisebridge, Femina Potens Gallery, and PariSoMa.

The sexiest event of the year - technologically speaking - is monochrom's Arse Elektronika. [...] Far beyond penis jokes and traditional dirty movies, Arse Elektronika is an orgy of big-time brains, deep thinkers, futurists, PhDs, hackers, artists, performers, scientists, experimental engineers and whimsical disruptors determined to give the entire notion of human sexuality a high tech cupcake reach around. Yes - there will be robot sex.

Oct 1: Film Festival and Prixxx Arse Awards Ceremony @ Roxie Theater: please buy tickets @ Roxie

Oct 2: Seminar/Performance @ Center for Sex and Culture: please buy tickets @ CSC

Oct 3: Conference @ PariSoMa

Oct 4: Workshops @ Noisebridge: free