1984 DIGITAL DOUBLE

A collaboration between Sarah Grochala, Btihaj Ajana, Alex Callinicos, Paulo Gerbaudo, Michael Takeo Magruder, Erin Capistrano and M/A Studio.
Produced by Headlong (2013)

 The 1984 Digital Double web browser app provides the user with a summary of their online identity. Our 'digital double' is the online version of ourselves that is tracked by organisations whose interests range from marketing to national security. This online version of ourselves is not necessarily an accurate representation of our real world identity.

In addition to showing the user their digital double, the app provides them with in-depth information about the ways in which they are tracked online enabling them to consider how digital technology might be changing the very idea of personal privacy itself. It also offers the user with some practical information about how to remove or better protect their online personal data.

The data that is gathered by the app is fed into two live experiences. The first occured around the performances of Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan's 1984 while it was on tour around the UK in autumn 2013. The second is PRISM, an installation created by the visual artist Michael Takeo Magruder, which was presented in King's College London and at the Nam June Paik Art Center, Seoul. Both of these live experiences offer the user a live equivalent of their online activity by putting data from their social media profiles on display in a public space.

Sarah Grochala gave a talk on Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan's 1984 and the 1984 Digital Double project at the Nam June Paik Art Centre in autumn 2014.

Produced by Headlong (2014).
A collaboration with the Cultural Institute at King's.