Week 6 - Elodie Rousselin - Street with a view

If you already saw the Google Street View car in your town, it's kind of science fiction. The camera, equipped by nine small cameras, is in the roof of the Google car, taking pictures of all the streets where they are, in 360 degrees.

Most of the critics concerning this service of Google Inc. talk about the non-compliance with the rules of private life respect. Some people where taken in pictures without their knowledge, in public spaces.

Marching Band in Sampsonia Way, Pittsbugh - Google Inc. Street View

On 3rd may 2008, two artists Robin Hewlett and Ben Kinsley made a collaborative project between Google Street View team and the residents of Pittsburgh’s Northside. They imagine a real staging along Sampsonia Way, with real participants, captured by Google Street Views cameras and technicians. Residents made a parade, a marathon, a garage band was playing, somebody was in a ham suit, two mens made a medieval battle, or a scientist in a mad laboratory : all this interventions were captured, and integrated into the mapping platform.

This performance is the first artistic one immortalized by Google Street View. More, it's a poetic way to question and hijack this tool of mapping first, but also of private life control.

More informations here

And see it directly on Google Street View