Google Cam Stars in Echo Park Art Show

Echo Park resident Chadwick Gibson thought long and hard about what he'd name the new storefront gallery he was creating on Sunset Boulevard.

Just two days before his opening, he finally had it: Smart Objects.

Carved out of a large space inhabited by the Anejo Duddery, a multi-room vintage store and performance space, the white, sparse room is opening Thursday, Dec. 20 with a reception, a new name and a new show.

"Googlegeist:Mirrors Behind the Curtain" features screengrabs by Gibson from images created by Google's street view camera.

They catch Google's infamous car and camera at work in interiors of museums, castles and other places where a plethora of mirrors makes disguising the camera impossible.

Gibson combed through thousands of Google images to find the captures.

As Gibson notes in a press release:

Over the past fifteen years Google has grown to become a ubiquitous omniscient entity, which has peered into almost every aspect of our public and private lives....These images are ambivalent portraits of the often invisible, panoptic power of Google’s observation.

Gibson, who attended the school of the Art Institute of Chicago, is still thinking about his long-term programming goals for the gallery.

But, situated right in a remarkable stretch of culture and retail in Echo Park, we have no doubt he'll have his pick of the litter.

Opening reception for Googlegeist: Mirrors Behind the Curtain opens Thursday, Dec, 20 with a reception from 7-10 p.m.

Show runs through the end of January. 

NOTE: Gibson attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago after graduating from the University of Michigan.