»King GAFA and the Magical 0-1 Crop« a contemporary fairytale about online privacy – a story to challenge our internet behaviour and spark a conversation about data sovereignty.
| location | Vienna |
| year | 2017 |
| filed as | animation, web design |
| project by | Felix Lenz, Johanna Pichlbauer, Fabio Hofer, Jekatarina Shipilenko |
| initiated at | Design Investigations (ID2), University of Applied Arts Vienna |
| exhibitions | Vienna Biennale 2017, Angewandte Innovation Lab, MAK Design Lab [Museum of applied Arts Vienna, permanent collection], MyData Conference 2017, PrivacyWeek 2017 |
| website | www.kinggafa.com |
Google – Apple – Facebook – Amazon
Providing central intersection points of data flow worldwide, online companies have quickly risen to incredible power. Their devices and services offer fun and convenience - but they have entangled us in a system that generates value from our data, without our effectively informed consent. We have become peasants, sowing and harvesting massive amounts of data for the greedy king.
What happens in his castle?
And what truth lies in the rumours about the terrible creatures hiding in the King’s dungeon?
for more visit: www.kinggafa.com
King GAFA and the magical 0-1 crop is a series of animations, equipping the viewer with the digital tools and knowledge they will need to become privacy knights, informed citizens fighting for their own rights.
The seven episodes inform the audience about topics like surveillance capitalism, data processing, encryption and data brokers, whilst additionally offering open-source alternatives to online services.
Graphics
The graphical inspiration for the story was drawn from medieval artwork. Just like the Internet today, societies then were mostly feudal systems, repressing the peasant’s rights. Critics and rebels often had to disguise the truth in innocent fairytales, using symbols and metaphors to spread their message.
Campaign
Part of our campaign advocating for political engagement and a decentralised, democratic internet was the demonstration against “Darwin’s Circle”, a conference assembling various major online companies.
Exhibitions
In the course of the Vienna Biennale 2017 we were showcasing our animations at the Museum of Applied Arts and later exhibited the project at the Angewandte Innovation Lab. We also held some joyful talks at the Privacy Week Vienna.
In September 2017, we carried our fairytale book all the way to Tallinn and Helsinki, where data experts met for the annual MyData-conference, suggesting new and democratic ways of data use. Right in the middle of programmers and politicians, there we were, wearing King GAFA T-Shirts, presenting our fairytale to an astounded crowd...
Currently the project can be seen as part of the permanent collection at the MAK Design Lab.
