See the Web Without the Words
LOS ANGELES — For all their problems, white walls in galleries make sense sometimes. But it's not always easy to get an image in isolated on the web anymore.
LOS ANGELES — For all their problems, white walls in galleries make sense sometimes. They isolate the work, making it easy to focus on the art object itself and not worry as much about titles or descriptions. What does the image say? What does it mean? I imagine this is part of why minimalist tumblelog backgrounds are often so popular.
But it’s not always easy to get an image in isolated on the web anymore. We’re bombarded with advertisements, text and more advertisements, and the image — even if it’s on a popular art blog — is buried amidst the usual web cacophony.
A recent post from Swiss Miss pointed me to a bookmarklet called Wordless Web, put together by designer Ji Lee and developer Cory Forsyth. Simply place the bookmarklet in your browser and click it on any site when all you want to see are the images. Ads stay put but it’s an interesting method to see a web site site with fresh eyes.
Here’s what Lee said about the matter:
No text also means no context. You’re free to enjoy the images in their purest form, without names, labels, definitions or purpose. It makes the pictures we see across the web more mysterious and open to interpretation of our own imaginations.
I’m not sure if it’s completely without context — banners and ads stay put, as does the layout–but it’s certainly a refreshing way to revisit a site, especially one heavy one heavy on images.
