BERLIN.- The d.velop digital art award [ddaa] is a highly regarded international prize that honours the most important artists in the area of digital art for their life's work or for a group of works. In 2008, the prize was awarded for the third time, this time under the patronage of the governing mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit, and in the context of the ART FORUM BERLIN.

The prize was created in 2005 by the Digital Art Museum [DAM]. The goal was to foster awareness for digital art in general and for the innovative and highly accomplished pieces of art produced in this area. The first two laureates were Manfred Mohr, Germany, and Vera Molnar, France. The prize, endowed with EUR 20,000, is sponsored by the d.velop AG and the Hauptpharma AG. The agency komunikation lohnzich, Münster, is partner of the prize. In addition, the laureates receive an exhibition in the Kunsthalle Bremen with a catalogue.

This year's laureate is the Canadian Norman White, a pioneer in the usage of electronics and robots in art. For decades his machine- and robot-creations have been enriching the discourses in the area of "New Media". Through his enthusiasm for experimentation Norman White has developed trend-setting works in electronic art. Already at the end of the 60s, before the era of computers, Norman White worked with kinetic electronics. White views computers as interfaces between man and machine, which can be programmed according to the user's discretion, and as universal brains for robots. For him computers are no compliant tools that limit creativity, but rather „fun-house mirrors". He mainly presents his works in social spaces where they anonymously confront an unprepared public. This strategy is complemented by his untiring commitment to "Rawbotics" and to "Sumo Robot Challenges", which he co-founded.