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'______.jpg': a series of 125 ceramic JPEG icons

'______.jpg': a series of 125 ceramic JPEG icons

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'______.jpg' is a series of 125 ceramic JPEG icons meant to solidify the default Mac OS X Preview icon into a piece of art.

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Ceramic Jpg Icon
Ceramic Jpg Icon

The ubiquitous Apple Preview JPEG icon is symbolic computer shorthand for an image, but artist Alan Belcher has turned the humble vacation shot into what he calls "the ultimate 'photo-object.'" ______.jpg is a series of 125 ceramic icons, manufactured in China, then signed and dated. According to Belcher, it's "solidified its default icon into a standard image surrogate," turning it from background noise into a central object of focus. It's currently being shown at the Marianne Boesky Gallery in Manhattan, but hopefully at least one of the pieces will eventually end up in a massive three-dimensional OS X desktop.