Portrait in blue by Maarten Delobel, Portrait in purple by Jonna Bruinsma
Janssen studied graphic design at the ArtEZ Institute of the Arts in Arnhem from 2012 to 2016. Her projects were primarily socially and politically engaged, with her designs based on research and mathematics. Her growing interest in our relationship with technology resulted in several projects researching digital identity, terms and conditions, and internet standards. For her final project, Janssen examined Big Tech business models in depth, stating that the data business had enslaved us. With her 2016 project, Bank of Online Humanity, she demonstrated to people the value of their personal data.
This was before all the major scandals, whistleblowers and law enforcement. Nobody really cared about data, or how Big Tech was making tons of money by monetising attention and exploiting people’s behaviour. Taking a stand for digital civic rights and criticising our beloved technologies was not something that was expected, especially from a young female artist. At the time, this felt like pushback, but over time it became a strength. Her motivation and mission gained ground when she won the Crypto Design Award with the Bank of Online Humanity project in November 2016. This was followed by receiving the prestigious Talent Development Grant from Creative Fund NL and a Pioneer Grant from the SIDN Fund for Innovation and the Internet. What started as a project evolved into a vision, prompting her to dedicate her practice to fighting power inequalities, raising awareness of data protection and the implications of algorithmic decision-making, and making the internet a more data friendly and better place.
From there, she began to lay the foundations for her knowledge and network. She read books, academic papers, regulations and legislation, and contacted many highly renowned experts in the field to pick their brains and dig deeper. She started to untangle the complexity of the internet infrastructure, which confirmed her concerns that something was indeed amiss. Janssen developed her own research method to structure her observations, thoughts, and inspiration. She naturally connects and dissects different theories, which directs her towards the core of the challenges we are facing in the digitalisation of our world.
Over the years, she has initiated and completed many research and art projects, travelling all around the country and abroad to exhibit her work at a variety of events and venues, including the Architecture Biennale in Venice, the Lowlands Festival, Masterly in Milan, the Dutch Design Week, the Social Economic Council and the Dutch Data Protection Authority. She occasionally works on commission or in collaboration with parties whose mission and ideologies align with her own.
Her practice has grown to encompass more than just being an artist and data nerd. Janssen has become a spokesperson for data protection and digital rights. She creates art installations, gives lectures, participates in panels, hosts podcasts and tells her story on television, radio and podcast shows and in magazines. She has even made it to the cover of the Netherlands’ premier intellectual magazine, Vrij Nederland. Her art forms the cornerstone of her work, and she uses it to start conversations and advocate for digital civic rights and data sovereignty. She pushes the boundaries of art and design, debates with lawyers, challenges data professionals, confronts authorities and encourages politicians to take a stand for a better, fairer, safer, more open, democratic and inclusive digital future.
