The Google Emotional Index

The intersection of visual arts and internet-culture has been blogged about here at Beyond Robson before. In fact, its almost become a theme of our local arts coverage. From web-design to ASCII art to trawling the pages of FFFFOUND!; artistic experimentation, (development or disintegration?), has been a defining feature of the internet-era. Local artists have hardly been immune to this recent digitization of aesthetics, and some of the most exciting work shown in the city lately has been directly inspired by the 'net.

Established Vancouver artists Kristina Lee Podesva and Alan McConchie's new piece at the Helen Pitt Gallery offers what may be the most overtly web-kindled art I've seen in an official Vancouver exhibition. In fact, the installation can only be viewed on the internet, since March 13, as part of Helen Pitt's new 'Web Gallery'. The piece, titled the Google Emotional Index, uses the inescapable search engine as its primary inspiration, offering a maze-like collage of contemporary images and a glimpse into the chaos of modern morality...

In addition to the flickr photography showcase in Yaletown, I've recently blogged about Lisa Birke's Search Engine, which took images collected from Google as inspiration for experiments in painting, sculpture, and collage. Podesva and McConchie's experiment draws on similar inspiration, but the end product is something completely different.

Gathering image results from searches for simple human emotions, from 'agony' and 'joy' to 'panic' and 'yearning,' the artists have created a grid of hyperlinks; each emotion leading the viewer down a trail of googled imagery. If you surrender yourself to the visuals, you'll be led into a labrynth of modern symbols that is both hilarious and heart-wrenching. For example, a trip into 'attraction' led me through a series of BMW ads where a man places car-photos over his mounted lovers' face. This recurring image was broken up by a range of pictures; from movie posters to fractal images to a man serenely petting kangaroos. 'Sincerity' gave me Sammy Sosa, the 'Christian Anglers' logo, and wedding gowns.

The selection may border on random at times, but the jpegs combine to create a disturbingly intuitive picture of our modern morality. In this increasingly globalized, 'plugged-in' world, one of the best ways to get a sense of what "hate" or "compassion" mean for mankind at large could very well be to perform a google search. Whether or not you agree, the images culled by the duo certainly resonate, opening a mirrored window into our culture's fickle, divergent emotions and curious relationship to language.

The installation is the first in a year-long series of web-based artworks over at the Helen Pitt Gallery. The gallery is a non-profit, artist run outfit established in 1975, "dedicated to the promotion of experimental contemporary art that adresses social, political, cultural and critical issues outside of, or beyond, those of the art industry mainstream." In addition to the online gallery, there's also a steel-and-concrete showroom currently featuring an exhibit of work by six local artists built around the term "Ground Zero".

It's nice to see a local gallery taking this kind of online initiative. There's so much great work being done on the 'net these days, and a lot of it gets lost to the rootless nature of web-creations; I reckon I'd be at a loss if asked where in the world a good 70% of the art I view online was actually created. As large of an internet-aficionado as I may be, I'm also a fan of the local community, something thats been fueling the art world since our cave-painting days. (P.S. Where be the great Vancouver art/design blogs? I can't think of many...)

Kristina Lee Podseva is a Vancouver based artist, writer, curator, and founder of colourschool. Alan McConchie is a Geography grad student at UBC and editor of the popular linguistic infographic PopVsSoda.com. Their first project together is an interesting way of fusing photography, sociology, philosophy, and web-culture into an addictive, uniquely modern artwork. These images have been gleaned from all over the world, and hopefully the end product will find itself seen by just as international an audience.

The Helen Pitt Online Gallery is currently featuring Google Emotional Index and can be accessed anytime, free of charge.

The Helen Pitt Gallery can be accessed offline at 102-148 Alexander Street. Open 12-5, Tuesday to Saturday.

images taken from the index (compassion & sincerity)

(p.s: something similar and new that I need to recommend: searching flickr through compfight)