Google art

Last May when the Google "Street View" camera passed down Sampsonia Way on Pittsburgh's North Side, an ad hoc collective of artists and neighborhood people (organized by Robin Hewlett and Ben Kinsley) put on a show. A small band marched by. Runners appeared to finish a marathon. A garage band practiced. In a garage, naturally. The project is titled Street with a View, and its effects can be seen if you do a Google map search for addresses on Sampsonia Way in Pittsburgh and click on the street view option to get a panoramic picture of that address. Not every frame represents an intervention, which just makes the whole idea more appealing to me. Like an Easter egg hunt.

The Mattress Factory, which is located at 500 Sampsonia Way, was one of the participating sponsors, but so was Doug's Market, a neighborhood corner store. As was Google.

I ran across an image from the Google art intervention this morning over on Gizmodo, but others, including the marching band picture, have shown up elsewhere on the Web since the images went live back in November. Here are a few screen captures I made of the Easter eggs I found before visiting the Street with a View site.


That's the picture at Gizmodo that got me interested.

Creepy chicken sculpture by Nicholas Lampert.



I pasted the two above together to show the Love Laser and its evident effects. The artist's name is Ian Charnas.

The Langly High School Band marches past the Mattress Factory.

Another paste job, this time to get some perspective on the bed sheet rope she's holding.

Names of participants, background information and a couple of videos can be found at the Street with a View Web site.

link (via Gizmodo)