I want to delete it all, but not now (2021)




‘I want to delete it all, but not now’ is an unsolvable escape room that challenges our personal motives for escaping the data industry. Apps, video platforms and social media have become an essential part of our daily lives. The downside is that our online behavior is continuously being registered and resold and that we basically have no idea what we are giving permission for. We all have thought about going offline or exploring alternatives, what is holding us back?

In a 60-minute experience – by solving physical and digital puzzles – players are challenged to search for the origins of their own digital dilemmas about online addiction, privacy and responsibility. The escape room takes place in the room of the missing international student Rosa Aringa. As a private investigator you get to search for the answers behind her disappearance. By tracing Rosa’s steps, you will learn why most of her room was secretly locked. Was her disappearance staged? What was she doing online? Who owned all those cryptic apps? And why was the door gone? Solving the puzzles will make you aware of your own choices that prevent you from taking action and help you regain control on the internet. You can play the escape room in Tetem remotely using a livestream camera. 

This installation was commissioned by Tetem and was on show from 11 March - 5 September 2021.  Together with artists, Tetem examines the (mis)match between humans and technology and the ethical aspects and (un)intended consequences of technology in people’s lives. The title of the exhibition is based on a quote from the book ‘Sad by Design’ by Geert Lovink. His analysis on the toxicity of online platforms has inspired Roos to create a deliberately endless quest in which human desires hold us back.

I want to delete it all, but not now was nominated for the Golden Calf - Digital Culture in 2021.

With contributions from:
Geert Lovink
Cyanne van den Houten
Derk Over
Isa van Weert
Remco Akkerman
Ruben Baart

Many thanks to:
Tetem, Ella, Louisa, Theo, Marja, Anna