With the title Minima Media the Medienbiennale Leipzig pointed to new directions in the media art field. The concept devised by Dieter Daniels focussed on the following considerations:

In an age of media overkill important signals can emanate from artistic approaches concentrating on essentials. Instead of struggling to keep up with the fast pace of technological advance, art can reduce the complex reality of the technological world to aesthetically comprehensible symbols.

Minima Media returns to the radical 1960s departure that marked the beginnings of media art, renewing the claim to take critical stock of the status quo rather than merely adorn the spectrum of established art forms.

The show placed work by newcomers alongside that of internationally recognized artists, juxtaposed historical key positions with modern telecommunications projects, brought together artists from East and West. Media art was understood to embrace a wide range of technical categories: video, film, audio, interaction, CD-ROM, Internet. Performances, events and installations in public spaces around Leipzig expanded the dimensions of the project.

The spectacular venue for Minima Media was the disused textile mill formerly housing the VEB Buntgarnwerke Leipzig. Displayed in the empty 100,000 m2 factory space that is now one of Germany's largest industrial monuments, the artworks provoked reflection about the situation in the new German states during a time of incisive change.

The publication Minima Media documents the first comprehensive media art event in former East Germany, and includes in situ photographs of all the installations, as well as a comprehensive text section with theoretical approaches and analyses covering subjects as different as experimental film in the GDR and art in the Internet.