Jack _____
Jack _____
graphite on acrylic ground on paper
13 3/4 in. x 10 1/2 in.
2022

To find each image for Jack _____, I typed “Jack” into a Google Image Search, recording the search suggestions offered by Google. I then typed in an additional word in an effort to control my search. While I wanted to see how many different images and ideas Google could generate, I also wanted to question what it means to understand the world in this manner – where my search is outsourced to an algorithm and my perspective is mediated by "the most powerful company in the world." The resulting project is meant to be a compilation of images that conflates Google's suggestions with my search. In turning digital images into drawings, I want to foreground material reality against a virtual backdrop. In doing so, my aim is to hold some level of ownership within a system that maintains control. This project includes twenty-six drawings to date.

Jack Skellington