Copies, Codes and Patterns; Living in the Binary World (Web)

Joan Fontcuberta
Archive Noise (Googlegrams)

After viewing some of Joan's Googlegrams in the session I immediately wanted to learn more about them. I came across her artists statement for the project, which seems to contain most of the information on how the project was constructed and I found to be an excellent starting point:

Artist's Statement

Joan's statement explains the entire process in depth making it reasonably easy to understand. For the googlegrams, she used a photo mosaic freeware program, in which a large final image is produced from a collective of available photos in the directory, using the smaller images as if they were coloured cells and placing them in chromatic and density values. The software is used by many graphic designers, with their own directory of images available. However for the googlegrams, Joan has used Google for her directory of images:


"For the Googlegrams, however, the programme was connected to the Internet and used the search engine Google to locate thousands of images on the basis of search criteria determined by the user, normally images associated with one or several words. In the Abu Ghraib photograph, for example, the search engine was given the names of top officials, civilian contractors and enlisted soldiers cited in the ‘Final Report of the Independent Panel to Review DoD Detention Operations’ (August 2004) of the Schlesinger Panel, set up by the United States Congress to investigate the alleged abuses."

I suppose it doesn't really surprise me how easy it is to gain so much from the internet using simple searches because that's what it has become; a shared pool of information which no longer has much meaning of ownership. The information is no longer physical, and to some extent a vast quantity is false information. The internet has made it possible to share everything, and in some cases even the most private information and images are displayed for the internet community to view.

As immense as the internet's pool of information is, there is always the introduction of 'noise'. When using google to search, it is inevitable that the criteria will bring up certain connections which are not intended. Hence the project name 'Archive Noise'.

I find it fascinating how detailed the large images actually are, even though when you look close up there aren't really any defined lines. Even with the political connections and context, I think the images are beautiful. I find the process very interesting and just shows how vast and readily available the pool of information on the internet is to the public.