Miles Gilbert
Art Direction, Graphic design.

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What is the End of the Road?

Simply, it is wherever the Google Streetview car stopped taking pictures of the road. There are many things that can stop the Streetview car: impassable roads, national borders, security checkpoints, even traffic. However, you’ll notice that there are few, if any pictures of dead ends, cul-de-sacs, “do not enter” signs, and the like in this collection. This is because we want to depict situations where the road goes on, but Google cannot. Here is where the more complex implications of this project arise. Google has amassed an infinite amount of knowledge centering around the internet. And, arguably, people view Google as a never-ending supply of data. It can find anything you could ever need, anywhere. With Streetview, Google has bridged the gap between the digital and physical worlds, creating a seemingly endless catalog of images of the world’s streets. If you live in the continental United States, Western Europe, or Japan you can probably take a virtual stroll through your neighborhood and take a look at your house, apartment building, or doctor’s office. And the rest of the world doesn’t seem far off. However, there are some places the Streetview car (and Google) just cannot reach. Try viewing the central parts of Australia. Vast expanses of earth destroyed by drought, a cloud of dust rises in the wake of the Streetview Prius, dissipating into a crisp blue sky. For some reason, the car just stopped taking pictures. Why? It could be a technical reason: dust in the camera. Or maybe the driver got bored with this landscape. Maybe he thought, “No one will be searching here, no one needs pictures of this place.” This is speculation, of course, but, while viewing these ends of the road, one cannot avoid feeling an appreciation for the solitude of these places. The Romantic notion of disappearing from civilization. The exclusivity of a gated community. The barren landscape of the forgotten. What is it about a road curving off into the distance, out of sight, that so successfully feeds our curiosity, our urge to go, our internal frontiersman? And how long will the images of this collection last as true markers at the end of the road? How long will it take for Google to image every road in the world? How long before Google has imaged every inch of the world? Roads, sewers, schools, office buildings, living rooms? The End of the Road is about finding those places where Google cannot go or has chosen not to go. So far.

The End of the Road
A project by Miles Gilbert, Jared O’Connell, and DL Tashjian.

The End of the Road

An on-going project documenting the places where Google streetview stops. Scroll down for the full statement.

The End of the Road