The Street Ghosts graffiti series was inspired by Google street maps. When Google started traveling around the world, capturing footage of places in order to provide people will a more accurate and immersive experience when looking for a specific location, they inadvertently took shots of people as well. The Street Ghosts series revolves around those people.
Created by international artist Paolo Cirio, with help from Adalky Capellan, Max Fox and John Bussiere, the Street Ghosts series essentially places the randomly captured people back where they were originally shot. By printing life-sized color posters of these individuals, he was able to paste them on the walls of public buildings.
Cirio writes about the Street Ghosts project, "I exposed the specters of Google’s eternal realm of private, misappropriated data: the bodies of people captured by Google’s Street View cameras."
Google Maps-Inspired Graffiti
Street Ghosts by Paolo Cirio Represents the Misappropriation of Data
Trend Themes
1. Data Misappropriation Awareness - Understanding the need for privacy in the digital realm, this trend in cyber citizenship and privacy advocacy highlights opportunities for disruptive innovation in data protection and encryption technologies.
2. Artistic Response to Big Data - A trend that sees artists using available digital data to create social commentary, this is an opportunity for businesses to work with artists to create unique and attention-grabbing marketing campaigns.
3. Street Art Meets Augmented Reality - With the increasing prevalence of augmented reality, this trend sees a potential for merging street art and digital technology to create immersive experiences for tourists and art enthusiasts alike.
Industry Implications
1. Cybersecurity - With the rise in awareness of the need for data privacy, this industry is ripe for disruptive innovation such as new firewall technology and anonymous browsing tools.
2. Digital Marketing - As artists continue to use digital data to create unique social commentary, businesses can learn to work with artists to create buzzworthy and socially conscious marketing campaigns.
3. Tourism - The intersection of street art and augmented reality has the potential to create an immersive experience for tourists, particularly in urban areas with a strong street art culture.