14 DAY TRIAL // Google’s Art Project has just got larger after the company introduced a new feature, dubbed the “Street Art Project,” which was created through the Google Cultural Institute.
While normally you’d see museum exponents, this time around, the company has chosen to take to the streets, to preserve the works of artists who use different mediums of expression. There are over 5,000 images and about 100 special exhibitions on artists, places and various themes.
“Here today, gone tomorrow. The transient nature of street art means it can be at risk of being scrubbed out and lost forever to its legions of fans. But long after the paint has faded from the walls, technology can help preserve street art, so people can discover it wherever and whenever they like,” reads a blog post from Google.
The collection contains different images, from foxes painted on walls, to various symbols, murals and the like. While parts of these works are a form of activism, others try to change the face of poor neighborhoods and bring some color and light to these areas.
The Internet giant has gone a step further, adding Street View imagery for a lot of new areas and buildings, such as those that are closed to the public, but which are full of wonderful paintings.
“In a series of fascinating exhibitions by our partners, you can also learn about origins of the street art movement or see how Street Art is being used in Poland to revitalize its cities. Take a tour through the origins of New York’s original graffiti movement of the 90’s, or see top highlights from the city’s 5 Pointz project. Compare the global nature of the Street Art produced in Mexico, which has a long and vibrant history of muralism, to the scene in the Philippines, which is just developing,” writes Google’s Lucy Schwartz, program manager for the Google Cultural Institute.
For the famed Paris 13 tower, you can even change the story you’re on, effectively enabling you to go from area to area all over the building to see all the works of art in a virtual tour that will make you feel as if you're really there in person.
While it would be a better idea, of course, to actually be present to visit all those places, this isn’t always possible, so we’ll all have to take what we can get and, in this situation, that’s Google’s free system.