SCRATCH MY NOSE – TYPE THIS INTO GOOGLE
‘Type This Into Google’ pole posters was a direct action work where Scratch My Nose altered 100’s of the original nightclub posters on the streets of Sydney to produce an ironic and satirical commentary about how we use and consume new media technology. We live in a easy and quick consumer-centric culture and new media has had a broad impact on and has reshaped public life. SMN criticism then comes in the form of ‘absurdist’ statements and since most media traffic funnels through Google – why not type in ‘Trevor Chappell’s Underarm B.O.’ or ‘Steve Irwin’s Muppet Documentary’? Why not?
Francesca Dominello expains further:
‘Type This Into Google’
SCRATCH MY NOSE
Breaking news. Multi-media group 'Scratch My Nose' got the gong on ‘Red Faces’ last night for streaking during the Tuesday test match between Shane Warne and Liz Hurley on the cover of New Idea. Read more …
www.nostril.net.au/scratch/my/nose/s1035126.htm - Cached - Similar
After pondering this – and wondering whether it was also true that Itchy and Scratchy once doubled as Scratch My Nose groupies, and that Gene Simmons did their make up for the Johnny Farnham You’re the Voice Final Comeback Jack Concert Tour #14, and that they learned to sing on The Sopranos and play the kazoo on Skippy, I started to think there’s more to these ‘Type This Into Google’ pole posters than I first thought. But I would like to think that Scratch My Nose is doing more than just trying to impress Bob Geldof’s better half so that they too can hop on the Oprah bandwagon and chime in at the chorus of ‘We are the World’ now that Michael Jackson is no longer with us. But the fact that they can leave such a Google trail when Google has conditioned us to search (Justin Bieber’s prayers, Julia Gillard’s earlobes, Ke$ha’s lyrics, Is Tom Cruise gay? Is Lady Gaga really a man? Did Nicole Kidman always have flawless skin? and Did Nick Cave always have hair on his head?, as if we really care about Lindsay Lohan, Jennifer Aniston’s latest baby bump, or how many times Cameron Diaz has had plastic surgery - I won’t even start with Miley Cyrus aka Hannah Montana Never Again) could mean that maybe – and I’m saying just maybe – we are able to think for ourselves, even only a little bit?? It’s a long shot, but next time you’re in your local CD Megastore because all the diehard independent record shops couldn’t compete in a globalised economy and to survive must now trade offshore in places like Indian telemarketing sweatshops and call themselves Kevin, Greg, Sharon and Diane, and you, like Spider-Man, are confronted with no choice and the latest ‘So Fresh: A Decade of Hits Volumes 1-73’. Which volume will you choose? That’s right – “Screw – you”! Type ‘That’ Into Google …
Francesca Dominello is Powered by Google.