ifrågasätta (8-bit heist) is the first in a two-part practical research project investigating physical/non physical data transference and wider perceptions of data replication and (re-)distribution. The replication, re-appropriation and redistribution of audio and visual data has long prior served as a point of legal and artistic contention. Through the use of accessible 3D image capturing technology and rapid prototyping, the project seeks to find tension points in how people perceive the easy capture and replication of geometric data and further speculates on how this may profoundly augment our understanding of the physical realm.

ifrågasätta involved a series of documented performances that both dramatised and amplified the action and implication of 3D data capturing, replication and distribution. The first phase involved a ‘heist’ of geometric data from commercially available household objects in IKEA in sight of the store’s customers and employees. The resulting data were then digitally altered to draw attention to the digital capturing process and replicated physically via 3D printing. The second phase involved distributing the data to the public for download and further replication via the use of printed QR codes distributed on the street.

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