The San Francisco MOMA has an exibit from Penelope Umbrico called 5,377,183 Suns.
The premise is simple. Find 5,377,183 pictures of the Sun on Flickr. Compile. Voilà! Art!
Here are some shots I got of it while I was there.
Flickr photos hung on a wall may not seem like art, but think about. How many photos are taken everyday? Where 100 years ago some were still convinced a photograph stole a piece of your soul with every shot, today we take pictures of EVERYTHING. From first steps in life to first coffees in the morning. Many of them are crap, while many of them are incredible. And often the photographer who took the shot can't tell the difference between the two.
This piece 'Suns' takes that concept and runs with it. I interpret it a few ways, which probably means I am wrong and it has no meaning, but here you go.
One is that these and most photos of the sun are always terrible, and generally tossed immediately. To an amateur photographer with a point and shoot camera these shots are almost always the worst representation of what I'm sure was a beautiful sun(rise/set). But when Umbrico puts them all together they make up something beautiful, vibrant and whole. I can't help but think of all the shots thrown away, how many more she could have found and how many I currently have on my hard drive.
Two is that it's ridiculous that this many people take pictures of the Sun, then feel the need to share them with the world. Something we all see (Except in Seattle... Right?!? Whose with me?), taking up band width, energy and my time when I am looking through cooler pictures. This could be a commentary on that.
Anyway, I liked it. I thought it was cool. And it got me thinking of what else could be done like this. Is is blurry faces, feet or bricks, really anything that tons of people take millions of the same photos of.
If you get to SFMOMA before its gone, you should check it out.
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