Watch this space

Collaborating with artists, writers, curators and institutions, the Remotewords project has been marking rooftops with text since December 2007. Beginning with "Start" at their HOME BASE in Cologne, they have since added three sites: FUHRWERKSWAAGE KUNSTRAUM, Cologne, the spectacularly located KUNST:RAUM SYLTQUELLE, Rantum, and they have just activated a new site on the roof of the EDITH RUSS SITE FOR MEDIA ART, Oldenburg (pictured).

At time of writing, all four are "offline" as they have yet to appear on google. As Remotewords says, "The project REMOTEWORDS is based on the idea of disseminating statements in various languages via Google Earth and other available virtual globes. The messages are applied to the roof of the respective institution with paint. The aim of this action is, via satellite system, to publicize the message after a time lag..."

"Google Earth goes to a great deal of trouble to update continually; because of the landmass and the amount of data, however, the time lag can last up to several years. Some recently completed edifices still appear on Google Earth as architectural shells, while buildings long since razed still seem to exist from the air. Google assures us that the image data are, on average, between one and three years old (Source: Google Earth website). The virtual globe systems suggest a present time that in reality is made up of time segments. This fact can, however, be put to artistic use. When news once appears on the virtual globe, it remains on the net for a long time whether it has, in the meantime, been uninstalled or 'censured' in real space."