The Google Art Project is a unique collaberation between Google and some of the world’s leading art museums, which enables people to discover some of the best works of art from around the world and examine them in high resolution detail.
Using the Street View technology of Google Earth one is able to move around the museums using interactive floor plans.
Where in the World is This?
It is an exciting way to learn more about the museums, galleries and art treasures of the world that interest you the most, and then go on to explore further afield and make new discoveries for yourself.
This is also an excellent way to plan in advance for your visit in real-life to one of these museums, as you can do all the “groundwork of research” in from the web – perhaps this could be called “cloudwork” or “cloudplanning”, or maybe designing a “cloudjourney”?
You can experience incredible close-up views of the artwork which you can zoom into – look at the brush-strokes an artist uses, in microscopic detail – a wonderful way to get the feeling of the personality and creative style of the artist. It is easy to move around paintings.
You can find more work by the same artist or learn more about the work by reading the detailed descriptions or listening to an audio tour. You can watch YouTube videos created by the museum or gallery themselves, while you are exploring the paintings.
Use the drop-down menus to choose a museum and to find artworks from that museum or find a specific work you are looking for. A way to discover hidden secrets, and work you would never otherwise have found.
Of course, cloud travel gives you the ability to walk through walls, fly along corridors, hop from one room to another or float up through the ceiling to explore another level, so it does mean you can cover a lot of ground a lot easier. And you won’t wear out the soles of your shoes as quickly either.
You can also create your own collection of favourite work, and then share it with friends, or perhaps use it while teaching your art class. Your very own collection of the best in the world, available at your fingertips… why not become an art collector?
http://youtu.be/GThNZH5Q1yY
Things you can do with the Google Art Project:
•Explore museums with Street View technology: virtually move around the museum’s galleries, selecting works of art that interest you, navigate though interactive floor plans and learn more about the museum and you explore.
•Artwork View: discover featured artworks at high resolution and use the custom viewer to zoom into paintings. Expanding the info panel allows you to read more about an artwork, find more works by that artist and watch related YouTube videos.
•Create your own collection: the ‘Create an Artwork Collection’ feature allows you to save specific views of any of the 1000+ artworks and build your own personalised collection. Comments can be added to each painting and the whole collection can then be shared with friends and family.
It has never been more fun or stimulating to prepare yourself to get the most out of your real-life visit.
