The use of Social Networks.

Penelope Umbrico: Suns (From Sunsets) from Flickr, 2006-ongoing

This is a project I started when I found 541,795 pictures of sunsets searching the word “sunset” on the image hosting website, Flickr. I cropped just the suns from these pictures and uploaded them to Kodak, making 4" x 6" machine prints from them. 

For each installation, the title reflects the number of hits I got searching "sunset" on Flickr on the day I made/print the piece – for example, the title of the piece for the Gallery of Modern Art, Australia, was 2,303,057 Suns From Flickr (Partial) 9/25/07 and for the New York Photo Festival it was 3,221,717 Suns From Flickr (Partial) 3/31/08 - the title itself becoming a comment on the ever increasing use of web-based photo communities, and a reflection of the ubiquity of pre-scripted collective content there. I think it's peculiar that the sun, the quintessential life giver, constant in our lives, symbol of enlightenment, spirituality, eternity, all things unreachable and ephemeral, omnipotent provider of warmth, optimism and vitamin D, and so universally photographed, finds expression on the internet, the most virtual of spaces equally infinite but within a closed electrical circuit. Looking into this cool electronic space one finds a virtual window onto the natural world.

Titles of installations to date:

2,303,057 Suns from Flickr (Partial) 9/25/07
3,221,717 Suns from Flickr (Partial) 3/31/08
4,064,589 Suns from Flickr (Partial) 9/02/08
4,109,500 Suns from Flickr (Partial) 9/09/08
4,786,139 Suns from Flickr (Partial) 1/14/09
5,009,279 Suns from Flickr (Partial) 2/20/09
5,083,088 Suns from Flickr (Partial) 3/06/09
5,332,272 Suns from Flickr (Partial) 4/22/09
5,377,183 Suns from Flickr (Partial) 4/28/09
5,537,594 Suns from Flickr (Partial) 5/30/09
5,858,631 Suns from Flickr (Partial) 7/26/09
5,911,253 Suns from Flickr (Partial) 8/03/09
6,069,633 Suns from Flickr (Partial) 8/27/09
7,626,056 Suns from Flickr (Partial) 7/17/10
7,707,250 Suns from Flickr (Partial) 7/30/10
8,146,774 Suns from Flickr (Partial) 10/15/10
8,309,719 Suns From Flickr (Partial) 11/20/10
8,313,619 Suns from Flickr (Partial) 11/21/10
8,730,221 Suns from Flickr (Partial) 02/20/10

(Artist statement available at: http://www.penelopeumbrico.net/Suns/Suns_State.html)

(Image available at: http://www.penelopeumbrico.net/Suns/Suns_Index.html)

But can this be classed as her own work?

Umbrico is taking other peoples images off Flickr and creating installation pieces. I suppose after reading her artist statement it's easier to understand her concept. It's not just about using other people's Flickr images but about how something so natural, like a sun, can be concealed in the likes of an online community.