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Turning Google search results into works of art

Ken Solomon has spent the past couple years working on art with a digital bent. One recent strain: recreating the contents of a Web browser, such as Google results pages and Facebook profiles, using watercolor on paper.

Peter Kafka
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Peter Kafka

Google Portrait - Lichtenstein Brush Strokes
"Google Portrait: Lichtenstein Brush Strokes" Ken Solomon
Google search painting
A detail from Ken Solomon's "Google Portrait: Lichtenstein Brush Strokes." Click for a larger image. Ken Solomon

Most people see Google's image search as a quick way to find a picture. Ken Solomon sees art. Literally.

Solomon is a Brooklyn-based artist who has spent the past couple of years working on stuff with a digital bent. One recent strain: recreating the contents of a Web browser, such as Google results pages and Facebook profiles, using watercolor on paper.

This sounds odd but looks cool, at least to my eye. And I definitely enjoy the practical joke at work here: Solomon creates an image by appropriating Google's appropriation of other people's images.

Is that art? Well, Solomon has a show called opening at a Chelsea gallery Thursday night, so some people think so. You can see more examples of his work here, but they may make a bit more sense when you hear him explain what he's up to in the video after the jump: