SLOW DOWN examines our relationship with time in a society defined by acceleration, productivity, and hyperconnectivity. While technology allows us to do things faster than ever, this constant race seems to leave less and less room for rest, boredom, reflection, and simply living. Slowing down does not necessarily mean stopping; it means finding a human pace, stepping back, and re-evaluating how we spend our time. The festival invites artists, thinkers, and the public to create a space for pause within the daily flow. Through themes such as boredom, surveillance, ecology, digital life, productivity, and creativity, the festival poses a central question: what if slowing down were a way to regain control over our time and our lives?
In March 2016, the first ZERØ1 festival was launched in La Rochelle, driven by students from the DPAN Master's program. From March 24 to 26, the festival took over five iconic city venues, offering an initial encounter between artistic creation, digital technology, and new practices. This inaugural edition laid the foundation for a project that would go on to produce many more editions over the years, helping to firmly establish ZERØ1 in the La Rochelle cultural landscape.
In 2018, the ZERØ1 festival continues to grow, building on the success of its first two years. After an initial period dedicated to launching the project and exploring the intersection of art and technology, this new edition helps expand the festival and firmly establish ZERØ1 as a key event for digital creativity in La Rochelle.
In 2019, the ZERØ1 festival celebrates its fourth edition from April 18 to 21 in La Rochelle. Organized by students from the Master 2 DPAN program, the event takes over the city's heritage sites to showcase digital arts and culture through exhibitions, interactive installations, mapping, workshops, and conferences. With a dozen artists from around the world and the launch of an OFF program in other local venues, this edition reaffirms the festival's commitment to making digital art accessible to everyone while highlighting La Rochelle's heritage. Entirely free, ZERØ1 continues its growth and strengthens its cultural roots in the region.x
After the 2020 edition was cancelled due to the Covid-19 health crisis, the ZERØ1 festival returns in 2021 to celebrate its fifth anniversary. This new edition marks a significant milestone in its development, featuring a new visual identity to reflect the festival's evolution. Over the years, ZERØ1 has established itself as a must-attend event in the La Rochelle cultural landscape, continuing its commitment to digital creation and its accessibility to the general public.
In 2023, the ZERØ1 festival celebrates its eighth edition from April 5th to 9th in La Rochelle. Organized by students from the DPAN master's program, the event once again takes over the city's cultural and heritage sites to showcase digital installations, performances, and experiences. Centered on hope and celebration, this edition continues the festival's commitment to making digital arts accessible to everyone through exhibitions, lectures, and workshops. Building on partnerships developed over the years, ZERØ1 reaffirms its place in the La Rochelle cultural landscape and its ambition to introduce new forms of digital creation to the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region.
TRACES explores the marks left by the past and how they continue to exist in the present. These can be physical—archives, objects, ruins—or digital, through the data and information we leave online. The theme examines our relationship with memory, heritage, history, and technology. With digitization, our traces are becoming increasingly numerous, invisible, and sometimes difficult to erase. The festival thus questions a central idea: what becomes of our traces when our memories shift from the physical world to the digital one?
RESET explores the idea of wiping the slate clean to start over. It represents a break from a previous state: erasing, abandoning, and deconstructing in order to begin again. Through the lenses of digital technology, humanity, society, and nature, the festival examines this need to reset what exists to create something new. A RESET can be a loss, a rupture, or a moment of questioning, but it also opens up the possibility of a fresh start. It is part of a reflection on loops and cycles: starting over, but with the potential to build a new state. Can we truly return to zero, or does every RESET leave traces of the past?
In 2017, the ZERØ1 festival continues its journey with a second edition themed "Extraordinary Journeys." The festival invites participants, whether solo or in groups, to imagine and create a digital artwork based on this theme. This new edition reaffirms ZERØ1's desire to foster a dialogue between artistic creation, digital technology, and imagination, while opening the festival to new ideas and new creators.
