Google, partnering with Refinery29 and Colossal Media, challenged two female artists across the world—Marina Esmeraldo in Barcelona and Mallory Heyer in NYC—to create artwork using, of all things, Google Sheets. Also, without having ever met.
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We were asked to “break the grid” — not only by pushing Google Sheets to its limits, but also by supporting and celebrating women who break free from society’s expectations.
We chose to create a Girl Gang of strong, independent women, all diverse in terms of lifestyle, body, nationality and beyond. Our main objective was for the public to feel inspired and included by the group of women we drew.
We chose to create a Girl Gang of strong, independent women, all diverse in terms of lifestyle, body, nationality and beyond. Our main objective was for the public to feel inspired and included by the group of women we drew.
We learned to hack our way through the software and used conditional formatting, cell values, and traditionally tedious functions to build vibrant color blocks and bold gradients to bring our girl gang to life. Colossal then translated our clicks into bricks on a street-level, gigantic wall in Bushwick, making art out of the unconventional medium.
Once it was completed Mallory and I finally met for the first time at the reveal of the finished piece and we kicked off the mural’s run with a launch party at Syndicated, the movie theater and bar on the other side of the wall. We joined guests of Google and Refinery29 to watch the videos made during the campaign — our artwork decorated everything from coasters to a giant cake!
