---
description: San Francisco-based artist Jenny Odell uses Google to cut up, reconfigure, and spit back out our world in a way we've never been before.
title: Reimagining Google Maps Satellite View by Jenny Odell
image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcac302191df5feb1/69879ea3cd1bba0f606f7154/swimming-pools.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9
---
* [World](/section/world/)
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# Finding Art in Google Maps: Jenny Odell's Satellite World
by
[Erica Fahr Campbell](/author/erica-fahr-campbell/)
## Erica Fahr Campbell
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Aug 1, 2012 5:59 PM CUT
125 Swimming PoolsFrom the series, Satellite Collections
125 Swimming PoolsFrom the series, Satellite CollectionsJenny Odell
by
[Erica Fahr Campbell](/author/erica-fahr-campbell/)
## Erica Fahr Campbell
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Aug 1, 2012 5:59 PM CUT
For the average person, Google Maps is a website used to locate an address on a map, find directions from one place to another and see what areas around the world look like from a bird’s eye perspective. But for artist Jenny Odell, Google Maps is a tool to see, cut up and re-imagine her world in a new, photographic way.
Odell grew up in the Bay Area, and not unlike many in the area, was born to parents in the tech industry. After studying English in undergrad, Odell went on to receive her M.F.A. in photography at the San Francisco Art Institute. Interested in the complexities of technology—its progress and efficiency models, alongside the hiccups and mistakes inherent in web applications like Google Maps—Odell found inspiration in the two seemingly divergent paths.
Her project Satellite Collections, created from 2009-2011, uses the satellite view on Google Maps to find objects as diverse as airplanes, basketball courts and even water slides from places all over the world, which Odell then compiles into pictures—a selection of which is on view at Breeze Block Gallery in Portland, Ore. The photographer is often unaware of ‘where’ she is on the map, but then again, it’s not really important to her. “By working with the map labels turned off, I’m free to move about and explore freely,” says Odell. “This work is about a greater idea of space. I’m interested in the strangeness of a particular site or location.” After making her selections, she makes screen grabs of the items and then brings the files into PhotoShop to cut them out of their surroundings. Final square-shaped images of 144 empty parking lots, or every basketball court in Manhattan, tell a story of our world from a perspective unusual for the human eye.
Odell’s most recent project, Signs of Life, which she began this year, expands on her previous projects and explores life from Google’s satellite view. This time around, the focus is our collective preoccupation with stuff both tangible and not: movies, cell phones, alcohol, marriage counseling and weight loss are just a few of the topics to fall within Odell’s examination.
_Jenny Odell is a San Francisco based artist. A solo exhibition of her work will be on view from Aug. 2 to 30 at_ [_Breeze Block Gallery_](http://breezeblockgallery.com/ "undefined") _in Portland, Ore. See more of Odell’s work_ [_here_](http://www.jennyodell.com "undefined")_._
10 Waterslide ConfigurationsFrom the series, Satellite Collections Jenny Odell
77 Waste and Salt PondsFrom the series, Satellite Collections Jenny Odell
125 Swimming PoolsFrom the series, Satellite Collections Jenny Odell
120 StadiumsFrom the series, Satellite Collections Jenny Odell
1,378 Grain Silos, Water Towers, and Other Cylindrical-Industrial BuildingsFrom the series, Satellite Collections Jenny Odell
104 AirplanesFrom the series, Satellite Collections Jenny Odell
97 Nuclear Cooling TowersFrom the series, Satellite Collections Jenny Odell
144 Empty Parking LotsFrom the series, Satellite Collections Jenny Odell
Every Basketball Court in ManhattanFrom the series, Satellite Collections Jenny Odell
Every Baseball Diamond in ManhattanFrom the series, Satellite Collections Jenny Odell
All the People on Baker Beach From the series, All the People on Google Earth Jenny Odell
![All the People on Baker Beach \[details\]
From the series, All the People on Google Earth](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3c38524148c93d1e/69879eb0524fc037b1dee564/people-baker-beach-details.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp)
All the People on Baker Beach \[details\]From the series, All the People on Google Earth Jenny Odell
295 Roadside SignsFrom the series, Signs of Life Jenny Odell
202 Billboard StructuresFrom the series, Signs of Life Jenny Odell
153 Signs for Shopping Centers and Entertainment ComplexesFrom the series, Signs of Life Jenny Odell
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