Jaka Zeleznikar

Private Property - Access Forbidden

The 'Private Property - Access Forbidden' is a work of electronic literature, a simple, single-page web application. Generative/combinatory text content generation, and Google Maps API, is used for the creation of a dystopian interactive narrative. It is 2026, and everything is privatized and monetised. Visitors of the work can learn their restrictions and costs regarding access to the selected geolocation picked on the map. Access to the work is free, with no hidden costs or in-story-world items per purchase. Reader/user is faced with a personalized Google maps interface and an open info window, setting the frame of the narrative, the year and the general situation. When a user clicks on the arbitrary location on the map, the initial info window is closed and a new info window opens at the selected location, implying that the data displayed relates to the locality. Every time such an info window is created the displayed data gets created using the preexisting language (content) and design template, filling it with randomized sets of language parts. The parts and template are designed in a way that ensures grammatically (and semantically) correct sentences. The content of generated sentences is designed to be intimidating, revealing the inability to access almost any point on Earth, either due to no trespassing policy or due to enormous financial compensation required for a limited residency. The work crosses over from literature to art (specifically, net art and its ancestors). User interaction and visual aspects of the work, as well as the programme/algorithm-based language content combined form the whole of the work.