Earthbnb, from Platform to Planet: How the Interface Transforms Private and Public Space

Abstract

This short (5.43 min) online video and accompanying research materials (an online collaborative board) situate DoriO's research into the platform-capitalism apparatus of Airbnb. Through a digital collage of screen captures and 3D photogrammetry, the work experiments with the aesthetics of Airbnb, inserting text-based interventions and spoken word into the interface that foreground the 'fails n errors' that the online marketplace propagates. Within this context, concerns about infrastructure are brought to the fore and questions populate the search bars of the website. DoriO began working on 'Earthbnb' during the Covid-19 pandemic. Confined during lockdown, the group each scanned their rooms using a 3D application and joined these together to form an online home of sorts. The film and accompanying materials share the process of conducting collaborative practice-based research during the pandemic.