For five years conceptual artists Biancoshock and Harmen de Hoop have been giving each other assignments as part of a common project that can range from titillating to amusing to incomprehensible.

As with so many works in public space by either of these two interpreters of societal nomenclature, these works field-test theories of the visual prank as much as they level observations or critiques of human behavior. With each installation, you are welcomed to examine one more of myriad modern idiosyncrasies – now placed in a new context. Your interpretation may vary.

The current chapter of their collaboration finds Biancoshock in the Corsican mountains for the art festival called “Popularte”, featuring artists including Bordalo II, Escif, Dan Rawlings, Elea Battini, and Julien de Casabianca.

Renovating an abandoned vehicle there, he transforms it into a so-called “Google car”, one of the Street View cars wandering the earth since 2007 to document for Google Maps. While many cities have been re-shot multiple times, some have only been shot once, and certain countries in regions including a large part of the Middle East and Africa have never been photographed at all.

Since de Hoop challenged Biancoshock to “Make a work about time passing”, the artist used his smashed sculpture to comment on the fact that rural areas often are represented by photos more than a decade old. Noting that Corsica’s streets have not been photographed since 2009, Biancoshock says, “In the cities, everything must be updated in real-time, in the small villages nothing changes so quickly.”

Learn more about the project at www.biancoshock-dehoop.com

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