Wolfgang Hilbert :
Kulturmeter

The Kulturmeter, or the art of multicultural mixing (an educative game for reducing xenophobia): the Kulturmeter represents a kind of barometer for the cultural life of a country and measures the degree of development of art and culture. The simulation programme is based on the theory that every culture is enriched and expanded by coming to terms with foreign cultures, namely by adopting other ways of thinking and seeing as well as other traditions. In contrast to states which hermetically seal off their borders (e.g. Germany under the Third Reich), multicultural states (e.g. Austria at the time of the monarchy, or the USA), develop an extraordinarily rich cultural life which has a power of attraction that goes far beyond their borders and therefore has a self-reinforcing effect. The measuring scale of the Kulturmeter is a hexagonal area (screen section), representing the living area of so-called 'cultural cells'. 'Cultural cells' is a metaphor for the cultural life of a people. The cell animation functions more or less according to the principle of the 'Game of Life' outlined by J.H. Conway (i.e. according to the rules of survival, birth and death), yet with the following extensions: when the indigenous 'cultural cells' encounter 'foreign cultural cells', then new 'mixed cultural cells' in other colours arise. For the viewer, the optical appearance thereby becomes more colourful and interesting, the intention being to convey the impression that cultural life as a whole has been enriched and expanded. The aim of the user must be to mix the foreign cultures with the indigenous culture in the right ratio. How many foreign cultures are distributed across the indigenous cultural living area and of which colour they should be (= type of foreign culture), depends upon how open the border is and for how long. How far the border is open is represented in a space below the regulator, in the form of a bar programme.