Duck or Rabbit? : A Conversation with Jonas Lund

Jointly commissioned by the Whitechapel Gallery and Phillips, Jonas Lund's new online work Fair Warning plays with expectations of popular online questionnaires or personality tests, to examine the use of data collection when attempting to represent user tastes. Fair Warning also questions how the value of a work of art differs in the market, the gallery and the digital sphere, and whether an objective way of measuring value exists.

What is 'Fair Warning'?

Participants will be asked questions ranging from their colour preferences, politics, and emotions to the latest trends in art. Sample questions include ‘Will the future be great?’, ‘How are you feeling today?’, or asking the viewer to choose between an image of Hilary Clinton or Edward Snowden. To interact with the work, participants can click one or several answers for each question. The whole test can last up to an hour, and repeats itself indefinitely.

Accessible via the Whitechapel Gallery and Phillips websites, Fair Warning attempts to demystify website analytics and testing tools; the clicks and cursors of other website users can be seen when they are engaging with the work.

What does the title ‘Fair Warning’ refer to?

The title refers to the 'fair warning' an auctioneer gives before he/she makes the final hammer and a lot is sold at an ascribed value.

Where will the work be on show?
The work will be accessible via a dedicated webpage on the Whitechapel Gallery website, a dedicated page on the Phillips website and on display in the (foyer) of both buildings.

Does the art work contain any explicit content?
The work does not contain any explicit content.

When is the work on display from?
Fair Warning is live and accessible online from 7 April until 12 June 2016.
A secondary artwork showing the accumulated results of the interaction with the online work will also be on display at both the Whitechapel Gallery and Phillips auctioneers from 7 April until the 12 June 2016.

How can I view the work and take part?
It is available here: whitechapelgallery.org/jonaslund and Phillips.com/Jonas-lund-fair-warning
The work consists of a series of over 300 tests that you can interact with for up to an hour. You can answer as many questions as you wish. If you choose not to answer the next question loads automatically. The test repeats itself indefinitely. The other cursors on view are those of the interactions of other users around the globe.
A related artwork showing how the visitors have been interacting with the online work will also be on display at both the Whitechapel Gallery and Phillips’ London from 7 April until 12 June 2016.

Where will the data Lund has collected be stored, and from which point in the project?
The interaction of the cursors will the screen will be recorded for the purposes of producing a secondary artwork showing the accumulated results. Gradually, this work will reconfigure itself according to the public’s responses.