''Google Volume One'' is a compilation of the first image shown by

Google Images Google Images (previously Google Image Search) is a search engine owned by Google that allows users to search the World Wide Web for images. It was introduced on July 12, 2001 due to a demand for pictures of the green Versace dress of Jennifer Lo ...

search for every word in the English-language dictionary. It comprises 1328 pages and contains over 20,000 images. It was published on 30 September 2014 and only 300 copies were made available.

Background

''Google Volume One'', created by London-based artists Felix Hayes and Benjamin West (King Zog), used the

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a com ...

and its 21,110 words as the base for the project. Editors David Desrimais and Mathieu Cénac of the Jean Boîte Éditions publishing company created software that simultaneously collected the first occurrences of every word in a

Google Image Search Google Images (previously Google Image Search) is a search engine owned by Google that allows users to search the World Wide Web for images. It was introduced on July 12, 2001 due to a demand for pictures of the green Versace dress of Jennifer ...

. Their goal was to produce an inventory of Google's visual representation of all words at a single time. Since Google searches are constantly changing, the writers say it is near impossible to have one stable

Google image Google Images (previously Google Image Search) is a search engine owned by Google that allows users to search the World Wide Web for images. It was introduced on July 12, 2001 due to a demand for pictures of the green Versace dress of Jennifer Lo ...

for every word in the English language.

Themes

''Google Volume One'' emphasizes how the values of society have been leveled by the internet. According to a L'Oeil Web Reviewer, Pauline Auzou, the Google Volume One project creates the theme that there is longer a difference between an

artwork A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literature ...

, an instruction diagram, or a product sold online because they are all the same in the domain of

. The book is a representation of the intrinsic themes of the

Digital Era The Information Age (also known as the Computer Age, Digital Age, Silicon Age, or New Media Age) is a historical period that began in the mid-20th century. It is characterized by a rapid shift from traditional industries, as established during t ...

Critical reception

Since the process of re-assimilating the appropriation of content on the

web Web most often refers to: * Spider web, a silken structure created by the animal * World Wide Web or the Web, an Internet-based hypertext system Web, WEB, or the Web may also refer to: Computing * WEB, a literate programming system created by ...

is widely considered a work of art in the 21st century, ''Google Volume One'' has been praised for its

digital artwork Digital art refers to any artistic work or practice that uses digital technology as part of the creative or presentation process, or more specifically computational art that uses and engages with digital media. Since the 1960s, various names ...

. ''Google Volume One'' won the "Price Edition" award at 45th Award Ceremony for Club of Artistic Directors.

References

External links

* http://www.loeildelaphotographie.com/2013/11/27/web-review/23272/google-volume-1-king-zog-s * https://web.archive.org/web/20151015214248/http://formfiftyfive.com/tag/google/ {{Google LLC English dictionaries Volume One Image search