I love Alaska

February 15th, 2009

On August 4 2006 Internet company AOL (America Online) accidently leaked data of 650.000 AOL search engine users. It cost AOL 3 days to discover the leak and by then the data was already spread around the Internet.

Graphic designer Sander Plug and dutch television director Lernert Engelberts worked together on the documentary I love Alaska, in which they use search history data to tell the story of user #711391.

“I love Alaska tells the story of one of those AOL users. We get to know a religious middle-aged woman from Houston, Texas, who spends her days at home behind her TV and computer. Her unique style of phrasing combined with her putting her ideas, convictions and obsessions into AOL’s search engine,  turn her personal story into a disconcerting novel of sorts.

Over a period of three months, a portrait of a woman emerges who is diligently searching for likeminded souls. The list of her search queries read aloud by a voice-over reads like a revealing character study of a somewhat obese middle-aged lady in her menopause, who is looking for a way to rejuvenate her sex life. In the end, when she cheats on her husband with a man she met online, her life seems to crumble around her. She regrets her deceit, admits to her Internet addiction and dreams of a new life in Alaska.”

I Love Alaska - Episode 1/13 from SubmarineChannel on Vimeo

You can watch all episodes, which I strongly recommend, by clicking here.

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