transmediale.05 explored the BASICS, the aesthetic and ethical foundations of artistic practice with digital technologies in a hyper-potential culture. It presented models of an artistic practice whose ethics derive not from past value systems, but from an appropriation of an extreme and contradictory, contemporary culture. The conference discussed the 'Next Level Basics' in contrast to the well-known credo 'back to basics': How much security does the individual need to protect their freedom and in which ways is our existence redefined in gene-technology laboratories? New forms of interactive media production reflect our changing necessities and demands.