Technology has the power to bring us closer to our own culture and to help us understand how different histories overlap and intertwine. Google Arts & Culture does just that, giving us easy access to some of the most iconic pieces of art across the world. There were debates on the significance and purpose of such a project, with sceptics wondering whether artists would have liked their works to be seen in so much detail, but there were also those who thought of it as a great resource.
Encouraged by the response, Google is now foraying into fashion. With the launch of ‘We Wear Culture’, the company is now documenting world fashion and its evolution in the last 3,000 years. About 183 institutions from 42 countries—the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Palace of Versailles, the Victoria and Albert Museum, to name a few—have helped build the narrative.
(clockwise from extreme left) Dhara, the traditional attire of Khasi women being woven; corset from the V&A, Venukagundaram sari drape from Andhra Pradesh; Marilyn Monroe’s stilletos; Audrey Hepburn’s shoes, little black dress by Chanel
Finding fashion
Initially, the project had no specific section dedicated to fashion, until the curators realised that many of the art exhibits contained pieces of clothing or costumes. “We all get dressed every day, but there are so many stories behind what we wear, and so we thought, what if we made a more concerted effort to help people explore fashion online, straight from the institutional experts of fashion themselves. When a user visits the Google Arts & Culture platform to discover the intriguing stories behind these unique exhibits, they tend to get hooked on the stimulus of discovering something new and that really drives them to explore more,” explains Simon Rein, India Programme Manager, Google Arts & Culture.
And Google tries hard to get you hooked. The platform makes use of machine learning (a sort of AI that helps the system shift with each new data entry, rather than remain static. This enhances the experience for the viewer by making it easy to search and navigate through million of objects, trends and stories on the platform. “For example, something as simple as finding an art exhibit based on colours or timelines. Recently, some of our software engineers collaborated with artists and creative coders (think of someone who is both a software engineer and an artist) to develop experiments that allow us to explore hundreds of thousands of artworks and the connections between them, using powerful machine learning algorithms,” replies Rein over email. He goes on to talk about one of the seminal experiments in the direction—X Degrees of Separation. This lets one select any two artworks and the system will find a visual pathway connecting them through a chain of artworks.
Virtual experiences
The platform lets people experience fashion in close detail. “One of the latest technologies we offer to partners is the Art Camera that can capture ‘gigapixel’ images of 2D artefacts. A Gigapixel image is made of over one billion pixels and can bring out details invisible to the naked eye. Using laser and sonar to aid focusing, the Art Camera takes hundreds of close-up images that are then stitched together to create an intensely detailed whole,” states Rein.
This is how pieces like Devereux Bodice, the 18th-century Dragon Robe worn by a Qing Dynasty emperor, and a 1937 Elsa Schiaparelli evening coat can be studied in all its intense detail. “The institute has also pioneered indoor Museum Views, using a custom-built 360° camera rig atop a moveable trolley, which enables virtual panoramic imaging.”
At a time when VR technology is making headway, at ‘We Wear Culture’, stories of some of the pieces are being brought to life using 360-degree virtual reality films. “You can step inside the places where fashion history lives, using a Google Cardboard viewer. You can find out how Chanel’s Black Dress made it acceptable for women to wear black on any occasion and discover the Comme des Garçons Kimono-inspired sweater and skirt with which Rei Kawakubo brought the aesthetics and craftsmanship of Japanese design onto the global fashion stage,” says Rein.
Little Black Dress
The highlight is a 1990 Vivienne Westwood corset from V&A that has been reimagined in virtual reality.
“They take you to an iconic place you can’t otherwise visit, and the controversial and storied history of the corset comes to life around you as told by a curator. Then I would dive into the chapter called ‘The Making Of’—the stories and craftsmanship behind the clothes,” he says.
For a project on fashion, the inclusion of Indian textiles is inevitable. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Mumbai, Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum, SEWA Hansiba Museum, Craft Revival Trust and Indian Museum weave hidden histories of craft traditions into the narrative.
Border & Fall, featuring in The Sari Project, explores a variety of regional drapes, like Telia Rumal sari of Andhra Pradesh, Kuncha Sari of Odisha, Jhabua sari of Madhya Pradesh and many more. "You may find a sari from Border & Fall in The Sari Project through colour search, then click on a Sari, then click on 'more Saris' from other partners. You may even like to go further deep and learn more about the weaving traditions like the Benarsi silk brocades, the double ikat Patolas and the Baluchari saris," elaborates Rein. You’ll also find such gems in the Salar Jung Museum exhibition, revealing how the sherwani became the outfit for the Nizams of Hyderabad.
Highlights
We Wear Culture is the fashion chapter of Google Arts & Culture launched in 2011 and helmed by its director Amit Sood.
One can discover the wardrobe of painter Frida Kahlo and see her signature traditional Tehuana dresses, corsets, her boots in the light of her health. There are about 400 online exhibitions, 50,000 photos, videos and other documents and also 4 VR experiences of important fashion pieces.
The evolution of fashion is also tracked through icons, movements and trendsetters like Alexander McQueen, Audrey Hepburn, Christian Dior, Irving Penn, Oscar de la Renta etc.
