Google Searching for God

2010

Typewriter embossed archival Rives paper (no ink), wood and fluorescent lights

H 5‘ x L 30‘ x D 1‘

Google Searching for God as installed in at Prichard Art Gallery in 2010.

Google Searching for God presents Ferguson’s use of the #1 rated search engine, GOOGLE (according to comScore’s monthly search engine rankings), to search for the one thing that humankind has sought throughout history, evidence of a higher power. The over 30 ft. long artifact is the result of a several hundred hour monklike performance in which Ferguson transcribed the full hypertext behind Wikipedia’s definition of God. A custom rig carried the heavy roll of Rives paper from side to side on a sliding carriage as Ferguson slammed the keys. The coding resembles scripture, every character and symbol was forced into the paper making the impalpability of cyberspace tangible.