Taryn Simon
Image Atlas is a special search engine that Taryn Simon and programmer Aaron Swartz created. Image Atlas shows the first images that appear when you enter certain search terms in local search engines from around the world.
Simon uses this to explores cultural differences and similarities. The machine raises such questions as: How neutral are data? How does digital technology change visual language? To what extent does translation affect meaning? The differences are enormous and numerous in a world under the influence of a global economy that is supposedly becoming more and more uniform.
Artwork
Image Atlas
2012
Taryn Simon (US, 1975)
Everthing that Taryn Simon records is hidden from view in some way. Because the authorities block it, or because no one knows about its existence or because we simply overlook it. These are systems that we mortals have no control over.