Googlegrama: Prestige (GoogleGram: Prestige), 2007
Fontcuberta, Joan
Digital photo
Ozono and Prestige are part of a wider series called Googlegrams. Technically, a Googlegram is the result of the collision of two apparently different worlds: the Google search engine and the mosaic tradition. Photographs culled from Internet have been recombined using an online photomosaic freeware application with the Google search engine. The final result is a photomontage made of 10,000 pictures readily available on Internet arranged like tiles in a mosaic. For this work, the search criteria applied by Fontcuberta are photography-related words, and the search variable is at the same time the plastic result of the tracking.
For Googlegram:Prestige, 10,000 pictures have been located using Google, applying as search criteria the names of ships responsible for the worst dumpings of oil at sea, from 1960 up until the Prestige disaster in 2002: Sinclair Petrolore, Assimi, Heimvard, Torrey Canyon, Mandoil, World Glory, Julius Schindler, Othelo, Ennerdale, Wafra, Texano Denmark, Trader, Taxanita-Oswego Guardian, See Star, Napier, Polycommander, Olimpyc Braveary, Urquiola, Hawaiian Patriot, Amoco Cádiz, Tadotsu, Andros Paria, Ixtoc I, Atlantic Empress, Patianna, Burmah Agate, Independenza, Irenes Odyssey, Exxon Valdez, Prestige…
As for Googlegram: Ozono, the image of the ozone depletion over the Antarctica has been built with thousands of pictures taken from Internet using Google. The search criteria applied for locating the pictures was the names of harmful substances damaging the ozone layer. These substances are fundamentally used in cooling systems, air-conditioning equipments, aerosols, synthetic foams, fire extinguishers, spraying products and solvents used for cleaning precision instruments. The list of substances comprises: Halon [halón-1301, halon-1211], Chlorofluorocarbon [CFC 11, 12, 113,114, 115], Hydrochlorofluorocarbon [HCFC 22, 123, 124, 141b, 142b, 225], Methyl bromide, Tricloroetano, Carbon tetrachloride…