10 Apr CYRCLE. Installation For Google Cultural Institute
“You never know when a mural will be scrubbed out or painted over,” said Lucy Schwartz, program manager for the Google Cultural Institute, the umbrella organization that this week launched an expanded version of its searchable database of photos simply called Street Art. “Our goal is to offer a permanent home for these works so users today and tomorrow can enjoy them and learn about them.”
The project launched in June 2014 with 5,000 images and 31 partnering organizations internationally. This week Google added 55 partners who have helped to document more than 5,000 more pieces of public art, all viewable atstreetart.withgoogle.com/en/. The collection includes Australia, Sweden, Colombia, South Africa —34 countries in all. It also includes mobile apps and listening tours, as well as a map on which visitors can click to browse local art.
A launch party was held at the former mochi factory in LA. The central art exhibit at the party was an “interactive, experiential, sculptural installation” by our very own Cyrcle. The plywood booth, in the shape of a hexagon, has black-and-white Jesus imagery on the outside and a padded, soundproofed room on the inside. Guests were encouraged to reveal their sins or deepest convictions, privately, into a microphone. An audio-manipulated visualizer translated their words into landscape-like imagery that appeared on a large screen outside the booth.
“I think a lot of the times when I am creating or making something, the overarching thought in my mind is, ‘What can I say or what can I do that will outlive me?'” Torres said. “Technology is now what carries history.”
