The Work of Art in the Age of Google

Google’s Art Project currently has more disadvantages than benefits, yet holds the potential to provide viewers with a museum experience at home. The Work of Art in the Age of Google by Roberta Smith, explains how Google Art Project allows you to zoom in on the artwork so that viewers to see the details of the work up close. This is a great tool for examining art techniques and seeing images that are not visible to the naked eye. However, not every piece displayed in Art Projects allows for this close up view, and some of the magnified pieces are fuzzy and pixilated. In addition to zooming in, Art Project adapted their Street View program (which is used for Google Maps) to simulated a museum tour. Users can view the museum interior, which includes the setup and lighting. Unfortunately, the tour relies heavily on a steady hand on the mousepad, and often includes visuals of gift shops and more average galleries. Another issue with Art Project is that many museums are not involved with the project. According to Google, only seventeen museums agreed to participate in the project, and they could only use artworks that did not have copyright issues. Most museums seem to be waiting for Art Project to succeed before they are willing to participate. This waiting game is actually a rather smart idea because Art Projects appears to have several technical problems. Also, if Art Project turns out to be a failure, the non-participating museums are potentially saving money. However, I agree with Roberta Smith when she says “... this new Google venture is simply the latest phase of simulation that began with the invention of photography, which is when artworks

first acquired second lives as images and in a sense, started going viral”. Google’s Art Project itself is a work of digital art that is still under construction. Also, if Art Project succeeds, artifact based museums could be adapted into a similar project. Even though there are an abundance of technical glitches, Art Project has the potential to provide the world with a great educational program.

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