Eagle Point Dr, Sherwood, Pulaski, Arkansas
On the blog Art Fag City, there is a fantastic photo essay from the IMG MGMT series featuring a recent work by Jon Rafman, a Canadian artist previously known for his Kool-Aid Main in Second Life project. His current series called the Nine Eyes of Google Street View features specially curated imagery extracted purely from Google Street View.

“The world captured by Google appears to be more truthful and more transparent… Street View collections represent our experience of the modern world, and in particular, the tension they express between our uncaring, indifferent universe and our search for connectedness and significance.”

In his essay, Jon Rafman wavers between speaking from the perspective of himself to commenting on the perspective of Google. He starts his essay being a mesmerized spectator, similar to a photojournalist who is able to capture imagery of an emerging event or a documentary-style artist who is entranced by the powerful emotions of “nostalgia, yearning and loss” that manages to come through these images.
58 Lungomare 9 Maggio, Bari, Puglia, Italy
But soon begins to comment on both the power and detachment of Google’s omnipotent gaze. Google has a perspective that artists rarely get the benefit to express. They are able to draw focus to the raw material of our everyday lives without overwhelming that reality. But at the same time such power, in the words of the author, gives them the aura of “an indifferent Being”.

“The collections of Street Views both celebrate and critique the current world. To deny Google’s power over framing our perceptions would be delusional, but the curator, in seeking out frames within these frames, reminds us of our humanity. The artist/curator, in reasserting the significance of the human gaze within Street View, recognizes the pain and disempowerment in being declared insignificant. The artist/curator challenges Google’s imperial claims and questions the company’s right to be the only one framing our cognitions and perceptions.”

Thanks to Elizabeth Stewart for the link.
Marta Strickland