adi romański
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knowledge has been always used as a strategic way to take control over things, whether it was
by using specific language to grow a community in order to gain more knowledge or technical
advancements in warfare to conquer land. since the start of the internet, hyper-globalisation and
technological access to general population, users’s data became part of that knowledge warfare.
possibilities to gain information on an enormous population suddenly became available, allowing
to learn behaviours of a specific demographic, see their weak points and use these for monetary
gain. how users’ data is being colonised by nowadays companies and institutions, how would that
look in the future?
data=knowledge | knowledge=money | money=power
CONCEPT DESCRIPTION
the takeover is an installation connecting the future, data and mind. the aim of it, is to imagine a
future society living the world where all of everyone’s data is being used in a hyper-personalised
way, having people’s thoughts as a data receiver to monitor their interests and behaviours to
target commercials onto their psyche. this installation is meant to have visitors reflect on their
current behaviour online, how careful or careless they are and how much data they share
(sub)consciously.
CONTEXTUAL DIVISION
the installation has been divided into three categories, each representing a different ideology
and approach of data takeover. the three of them form an interconnecting piece, aimed to reflect
on modern and future day hyper-personal data collection and usage of data for monetary,
information and power growth.
restriction - placed inside the ‘private room’, a video presenting adi’s daily life being taken over by
commercials. whatever adi thinks, whatever adi does, personalised commercials appear on people
or objects limiting vision and perception of the physical world. it relates to present day services
that force its users to pay a fee to not have ads or wait for commercials to end (by that, limiting
the service accessibility). thinking of the future, there’s multiple speculations on how the society
would function. i have decided to focus on limitations people might soon face because of the
hyper-personalised data ownership. it is meant to show the seriousness of the issue, where the
most private things of an individual (their thoughts) are being read, digested and used against them
for someone else’s benefit.
ownership - next to the viewer, a receipt printer with sets of receipts containing adi’s personal
data extracted from google takeout, including banking information, pictures, watch history, activity
log, addresses etc. the printer is running during the exhibition time live-printing the data. the
receipts symbolise personal data being owned and managed by external parties and not the
person themselves. just like in the grocery store, a purchased item still has company’s or store’s
logo on the receipt showcasing the ownership of the product. in this case, data is a product people
give away in order to use a service. already printed receipts, symbolise the scale, in which data is
collected. in adi’s case, 33 gigabytes of data had to be printed (transcribing to 2799 receipts which
mean 831 metres of paper with size 5 font). in the presentation around 20% of the data has been
printed and showcased.
consent - before entering the ‘private room’, visitors are greeted with a code of conduct, that states
rules and information regarding the usage of space. inside the space, above the video, a camera
records live everything that happens inside the space of privacy. outside, next to the code of
conduct, there is a small screen displaying the recording. it is meant to bring on a feeling of
surveillance, where visitors feel observed but they don’t now who is the one observing them. the
full code of conduct represents terms and conditions people accept on daily basis without
familiarising themselves with it. the rules hanged on the curtain represent the hidden conditions, which in reality often relate to payment, refund, warranty, participation, subscription period or discount terms.
out of consent, comes restriction and ownership,
SPATIAL DESCRIPTION
‘a space of privacy’ is an area defined by the hanging cloths on the fourth floor in the digital native
space. inside there is a pillow made out of newspapers (showcasing one of the articles about ai)
on which a viewer sits on. on the side, there’s a receipt printer, live printing receipts (ownership).
across the entry, a screen showcasing a video (restriction) is placed. above it, a camera is recording
the space and its ‘visitors’. outside of ‘the space of privacy’ a small screen is displaying a life-
recording from a camera (restriction), before the entrance (on the floor and hanged on the curtain
behind a qr code), a code of conduct is placed (consent). the set-up requires two speakers: one from
the screen, one behind the viewer (that is hidden behind curtains as well as other devices needed
for the presentation).
MY RELATION TO ADVERTISING
commercials, branding, commerce had been on my list of interest for a long time. i have partaken in
courses, even applied for a course at university in advertising. my interest in methodology commercials
use to manipulate person’s behaviour is still around. i am still very curious on how the commercial
algorithms function, how a certain company knows that i enjoy their aesthetic and so on. i chose data
in advertising as my medium of presentation because it feels like i finally got a chance to challenge
my curiosity.
COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTIONS
la casa de las flores - a mexican telenovela that i have seen at least 4 times. the recommendation
came through netflix’s watch suggestion based on an algorithm analysing my preferences (which is
safe to say in my case had a very accurate selection). this series opened up my family’s eyes on
lgbt+ situation and made them much more friendly, which i feel like makes this series even more
special for me.
duck - while growing up in poland, duck was one of the main companies on the market when it
comes to toilet cleaning. the animation has for long been stuck in my head since i’ve seen a lot of
their commercials on national tv while growing up.
dr smile - i often received commercials from this company based on my search history of
orthodontists and dentists. for a long time, i have struggled with the way my teeth look like, since
i wasn’t able to get braces while growing up. after moving to the netherlands, i have been seeing
these ads and found out a relatively cheaper way to get my teeth straight with dr smile. even
though it took a long time, the commercials of this company encouraged me to schedule a visit.
the algorithm worked.
obi - a construction store, where me and my family bought most of plants in our house. it is very
close to our house and has a wide range of plants. the commercials are very often played in a radio.
pepper spray - growing up in eastern europe as a queer person i constantly felt unsafe, walking
around public spaces. every time i was travelling to my high school (2 hours one way with
multiple transfers), i held my keys in my pocket in case someone would stop and attack me. in
poland, using pepper spray in self defence is legal, not as in the netherlands where it’s
classified as an assault weapon. in the netherlands i feel much safer but my reflexes from
poland still stayed around.
żabka - a campaign with sanah (polish singer/performer) showcasing a new selection of food in
a polish convenience chain żabka. it was meant to be published in tv services but it went viral
and was memed in social media (mostly tiktok and instagram). sanah is a well-known artist in
poland so it was a very successful collaboration for the brand.
allegro - is a market service (like marktplaats) in a polish and central european area. each year,
the brand has been commissioning commercials with a specific story in mind. this particular
video has gotten several awards (including a brown lion at cannes international festival of
creativity). it was the most viewed commercial in 2016 in polish media. i related this production
a lot since english is not my first language and the project describes a beautiful story of a
grandpa learning english to speak with his english-speaking granddaughter.
dr. martens - i have recently purchased two pairs of dr. martens shoes, mainly because the
company supports vegan lifestyle producing vegan friendly shoes. their campaigns are showing
an activistic/anarchistic approach which in my opinion is not very common. shoes in the video, are
the pair i bought most recently, even though i didn’t need it, my relation to the company,
simplified the decision.
shoppee - it is one of the most annoying commercials i have ever seen. every time i hear the
music or the voice of cristiano ronaldo i feel this rage rising in me. apart from the hate towards
the rhythm of the clip, i have no relation to the commercial.
apple airtag - this commercial has made me seriously consider purchasing an airtag for myself,
since i often lose my daily objects. the only thing that stopped me was my financial ability to buy
it. i really admire apple for their dedication towards storytelling in their campaigns, sometimes
playful, sometimes serious. my first choice for university was to study advertising and the decision
was very influenced advertising strategies from apple.
open’er spot - it is a festival happening every july in gdynia (one of my hometowns) on an airport
runway in kosakowo. i have visited the festival in 2022 which was an amazing getaway spot.
gdansk (a city next to gdynia that i lived at for most of my life) is heavily promoting itself
nationally and internationally to gain new visitors and investors. together with festival organisers,
every year they create spot campaigns to encourage new people to join open’er.
be more us - i started using dating apps when i turned 18, it was during covid period, where all
contact with people was online. i studied in a different city i lived as, so all of my friends were
far away, i lived in a forrest in a very small estate, limiting contacts with anyone even more.
even though i didn’t meet people for a very long time, i texted with them, had some sort of an
interraction, from asking about their day to complaining about the quarantine. it was something
i needed desperately but this need was internal. i would never say out loud that i felt lonely, that
i felt sad and i think this is one of the things that connect my case with the campaign below.
nobody said ‘i feel lonely’, but humans still need interactions and in mostly digitised
environment (especially after a global pandemic) people got distanced even more. i still use
dating apps, if i have the need to talk to someone, if i feel this need to hug someone, even
though i might not even know them.
victoria’s secret very sexy touch - when i started dating, i was young and very insecure. i would
agree to do things even if i didn’t like doing it. i would never say no, just to please someone.
because of that, many intimate encounters i have had, wouldn’t be classified as good because
of fear and lack of communication. later on, that created an issue of not trusting people in
general when it comes to sex and intimacy. i never knew how to communicate if i liked
something or not. touch is one of the things i enjoy a lot but i often forget to give touch back.
i have met several people who ‘forced me’ to communicate my feelings clearly, which helped
me a lot with gaining positive experiences, yet it still is a struggle to give touch. the commercial
below is emphasising touch a lot with the use of feminine body, that i’m (respectfully) very not
attracted to. using a combination of this commercial and a moment, where i’m placed in an
intimate moment with someone, being told one of my biggest insecurity is a very triggering
experience.
CODE OF CONDUCT
TAKEOVER VIDEO
to view the full text click command+a | control+a | select all
sources:
https://adstransparency.google.com/?region=NL
https://safety.google/privacy/ads-and-data/#controls
https://myadcenter.google.com/home
https://www.pinsentmasons.com/out-law/news/nobody-reads-terms-and-conditions-its-official
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jul/14/wifi-terms-and-conditions-thousands-sign-up-clean-sewage-did-not-read-small-print
https://purdue.edu/critical-data-studies/collaborative-glossary/data-colonialism.php#:~:text=The%20definition%20of%20“data%20colonialism,by%20their%20users%20and%20citizens.
design portfolio
research | tryouts
uploads
group project page (adi, hanju, theo)