Jan Robert Leegte
Google Maps as a Sculpture, 2017
![Leegte 035 GAL UPSTREAM JAN ROBERT LEEGTE 2017 PH GJ van ROOIJ](https://cms.hek.ch/files/images/Projekte/net_based-award/2018/_placeholder/Leegte_035.GAL.UPSTREAM-JAN-ROBERT-LEEGTE-2017-PH.GJ.vanROOIJ_2021-08-06-133437_ahnv.jpg)
Works that crossover between real and virtual worlds are not uncommon. Not many of them manage to blend them together almost seamlessly. Jan Robert Leegte’s Google Maps as a Sculpture is one of those works. Technically it is a perfectly smooth cube covered with high resolution images of a Chinese mining region taken from Google Earth. Experientially however the block appears as a virtual element lost between worlds. The object looks oddly out of place, a cut out photoshopped physically into a gallery space. While the title is a reference to Youtube as a Sculpture by Constant Dullaart, a shrine-like installation of the Youtube loading icon, Leegte’s Google Maps as a Sculpture has a different feel and focus. Jan Robert Leegte’s work playfully emphasises the materiality of digital objects and structures, reminding us of their prominent role in our experience. Often the artist playfully toys with the viewers expectations, creating tromp l’oeil type effects. In Google Earth as a Sculpture Leegte however widens his scope as he puts the reality of Google’s view of our planet into question.
Oevre: https://www.leegte.org/work/go...
Artiste: http://www.leegte.org