The images in this work are screen captures taken from Google Earth’s real-world mapping interface, collected from various countries across the globe that are covered by Google Street View. Each figure has been carefully extracted from its background and converted to black and white.
The evolving relationship between technology and humanity can often be glimpsed through the images of different eras. If traditional portrait photography once summoned an aura—evoking a profound sense of life—then in contrast, Google’s exhaustive mapping of the earth renders the incidental passersby it captures not so much as “humans,” but rather as data—or even noise—to be erased by algorithmic facial blurring systems. These images, which fully manifest the optical unconscious, seem to mirror a contemporary condition: in today’s world, anyone can be effortlessly laid bare before the global gaze, yet the human subject appears reduced to a mere trace of information, a raw material of surveillance capitalism, stripped of any secret or singular identity.
By re-presenting these figures in the form of portraits, the work seeks to summon the ghosts—those who are no longer present and cannot return—that haunt the digital empire.
｜Artist｜
Pei Ting Hsieh
Concerned with humanity's pursuit of self-concept and the sublime, exploring how they collide to spark moments of inspiration, absurdity, and profound contemplation in the age of technology.
｜Information｜
Year: 2021
Dimensions: Variable in Spaces, 8'58"
Medium: Video Installation
｜Exhibition｜
2024, Ars Electronica Campus - Observer Pattern, POSTCITY, Linz, Austria.
2024, Sustainability And Imagination In The Digital Envioronment, O-Bank Education Foundation’s Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan.
2024, Portrait Project, HSINCHU 241 ART GALLERY, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
2023, Always On Net art exhibition, HSINCHU 241 ART GALLERY, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
2023, Kaohsiung Award 2023, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
2023, TAIWAN ANNUAL Jury Prize Exhibition, Taiwan Contemporary Culture Lab, Taipei, Taiwan.
2022, TAIWAN ANNUAL Jury Prize Exhibition, Taiwan Contemporary Culture Lab, Taipei, Taiwan.
｜Awards｜
2023，KAOHSIUNG AWARD，Judges' Award
2023，TAIWAN ANNUAL JURY PRIZE，Judges' Award
2022，TAIPEI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS, DEPT OF MEDIA ART，THE 9TH DEPARTMENT EXHIBITION，First Place Award
2022，TAIWAN ANNUAL JURY PRIZE，Judges' Award
2018，NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY OF ARTS, DEPARTMENT OF FINE ARTS ANNUAL EXHIBITION，Honorable Mention
2017，ANITA WONG FOUNDATION AWARD，Judges' Award
2016，NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY OF ARTS, DEPARTMENT OF FINE ARTS ANNUAL EXHIBITION，Judges' Award
2015，NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY OF ARTS, DEPARTMENT OF FINE ARTS ANNUAL EXHIBITION，Judges' Award
2024 Video Sandbox II-VII：Ghosts of Google, photo at ALIEN Art Centre © ALIEN Art
2024 Video Sandbox II-VII：Ghosts of Google, photo at ALIEN Art Centre © ALIEN Art
2024 Video Sandbox II-VII：Ghosts of Google, photo at ALIEN Art Centre © ALIEN Art
2024 Video Sandbox II-VII：Ghosts of Google, photo at ALIEN Art Centre © ALIEN Art
2024 Video Sandbox II-VII：Ghosts of Google, photo at ALIEN Art Centre © ALIEN Art
2024 Video Sandbox II-VII：Ghosts of Google, photo at ALIEN Art Centre © ALIEN Art
2024 Video Sandbox II-VII：Ghosts of Google, photo at ALIEN Art Centre © ALIEN Art
2024 Video Sandbox II-VII：Ghosts of Google, photo at ALIEN Art Centre © ALIEN Art
2024 Video Sandbox II-VII：Ghosts of Google, photo at ALIEN Art Centre © ALIEN Art
2024 Video Sandbox II-VII：Ghosts of Google, photo at ALIEN Art Centre © ALIEN Art