Earth to Google

Location 52°4’19,43″N, 4°19’14,68″O

In 2007 I’ve painted an eye on the tiles in our garden. It has taken a while before Google updated the satellite photos of The Hague. In June 2010 the eye was finally visible and could actually look back at the person looking down. I’ve also made the artwork for the students from abroad who, during their first year in the live studios above my apartment. Easy for their family, now that they know exactly where their child lives thanks to this eye. Our privacy is becoming less and less and now you can look all over the world in almost every garden. This is my little protest against Big Brother.

History

For centuries, huge line drawings have been made all over the world that are visible from space. It is unknown whether they are intended for aliens or the gods. Technology has made us our own gods and we can view planet earth at home. These huge drawings are called geoglyphs. Most are made by removing the top layer of the earth. But it can also be painted. Well-known geoglyphs are the Nazca Lines in Peru, the Atacama Giant in Chile, the White Horse of Uffington and the Long Man of Wilmington in England.