What Happens When You ‘Google’ A Blank Image?

By Syafiqah Omar, 19 Jan 2012

Berlin-based artist Sebastian Schmieg has created a mesmerizing video, compiling images that originated from a Google-searching of a blank image.

Schmieg started by entering a transparent PNG file into the Google image search—which resulted in an image of outer space as the top match.

He then searched the top-matched image; and with the next resulting top image from the search, he searched for the subsequent top match—repeating this process a total of 2,951 times.

The video captures the recursive loop process that somehow generates a short history of the universe, tracing from The Big Bang to creation of life on Earth.

These images then gave way to brand logos and mathematical equations until finally, the end of time.