Dark Pool, 2014

Krunglevičius, Ignas
© ZKM | Zentrum für Kunst und Medien, Foto: Tanja Meissner

Stop being distracted. Disconnect. Join the Dark Pool and protect your privacy. So concludes each one of a series of short videos produced by artist Ignas Krunglevičius: three commercials for a fictitious company selling radio-frequency jammers – devices that block wi-fi, GSM, and 3G signals within a ten-meter radius. This equipment is actually available on the market but illegal to use.

The title of the work refers to a term in finance: a dark pool of liquidity is a trading volume not offered in public exchange or openly available to the public. Such transactions stay hidden from the public eye.

This video series, by expressing a willingness to block digital signals, weaponizes the idea of digital disconnection. It is an example of a controversial reaction to surveillance and the rapid development of technologies.

Shown at Seasons of Media Arts – City of Participative Visions (2019).

Time: 08.08.2019 – 15.09.2019
Location: Saturn, Kaiserstr. 146–148

Seasons of media arts 2019

Seasons of Media Arts 2019 – City of Participative Visions

08. August 2019 — 15. September 2019