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Mass Mass Media
911 Media Arts Center
December 14-January 10
Mass Mass Media is an installation by Caleb Larsen that processes headlines from Google News in real time. Using online resources, databases, and custom computer programs the three projects in this installation inspect different elements of the language and content of the news headlines.
Monument (if it Bleeds, it Leads) (ceiling/floor)
This project scans the headlines for people reported "killed." For each person it finds, it drops a tiny yellow BB. Each BB represents a human life and the accumulation is a sort of physical manifestation of the mortality statistics that are presented to us daily via the news media. The word "killed" was specifically chosen. A person who is killed has had a deadly action performed upon them by an outside actor. It is a forceful, active word and conjures up images in the minds of readers more than a more "sensitive" word might. In the end, this piece examines one element of the way headlines are constructed to entice us, often drawing on the darker side of our sensibilities. More information about this project is available here.
After the installation at 911 Media Arts Center an edition of 10 acrylic cubes were made, each containing 350 BBs that were dispensed during the show. You can see them here: 350 People Reported Killed.
The Translation From Authoritative to Senseless (south wall)
In this work the headlines from Google News are translated into a continuous montage of videos from YouTube. Each word in the headline is used as keyword to search YouTube. The computer program finds the most popular video matching that word and downloads it. A section of the video is cut out depending on the length of the word and its position in the sentence. The headline is then reassembled from these video clips and played back. This project creates a visual language from the lexicon of public video sharing and the grammar of the glib language of news headlines. You can find out more about this project and how it works on its project page.
Categories (north wall)
A database compiles all the words used in the headlines and sorts them into one of the nine categories that Google assigns the headlines. The words associate into a cloud. The frequency and recentness of usage determines the words size, placement, and intensity. The longer the word goes without being used, the darker and closer to the center it moves and the cloud begins to collapse in on its self.