VISAGE R-0-R - interactive audio-visual installation
Billions of selfies posted on Facebook and Instagram; face recognition to unlock your smartphone and computer or to read your emotions for commercial purposes like advertising and gaming;
face tracking by surveillance cameras, etc. Our face became a major target of science and computing in the era of digitalization and machine learning while biometrics invade our daily lives.
VISAGE R-0-R turns the tables. It uses face detection but “teaches” the computer a kind of “anti facial recognition system” which deconstructs the faces and melts them down to a stream of errors and artifacts. The closer you look into the digital mirror the less you see yourself.
The interactive soundtrack uses the infamous last words of Donald J. Trump´s inauguration speech, ending with “… we will make America great again”. Trump is a major force behind increasing surveillance. In the installation his words only become audible when a face is detected and are subsequently alienated by the movement of the user.
VISAGE R-0-R is part of the exhibition:
ERROR 404: TERRITORIES OF ABSENCE - Curator: Horea Avram
Artists:
Alexandru Antik (RO), Gary Hill (US), Kinema Ikon (RO), Mihaela Kavdanska (RO/BG/AT),
Yann Le Guennec (FR), Klaus Obermaier (AT), Pipilotti Rist (CH), Dilmana Yordanova (RO/BG)
opening performance:
FACELESS by Klaus Obermaier
April 27, 2017 to October 8, 2017
Muzeul National de Arta Contemporana, Palace of the Parliament, Bucharest, Romania
Billions of selfies posted on Facebook and Instagram; face recognition to unlock your smartphone and computer or to read your emotions for commercial purposes like advertising and gaming;
face tracking by surveillance cameras, etc. Our face became a major target of science and computing in the era of digitalization and machine learning while biometrics invade our daily lives.
VISAGE R-0-R turns the tables. It uses face detection but “teaches” the computer a kind of “anti facial recognition system” which deconstructs the faces and melts them down to a stream of errors and artifacts. The closer you look into the digital mirror the less you see yourself.
The interactive soundtrack uses the infamous last words of Donald J. Trump´s inauguration speech, ending with “… we will make America great again”. Trump is a major force behind increasing surveillance. In the installation his words only become audible when a face is detected and are subsequently alienated by the movement of the user.
VISAGE R-0-R is part of the exhibition:
ERROR 404: TERRITORIES OF ABSENCE - Curator: Horea Avram
Artists:
Alexandru Antik (RO), Gary Hill (US), Kinema Ikon (RO), Mihaela Kavdanska (RO/BG/AT),
Yann Le Guennec (FR), Klaus Obermaier (AT), Pipilotti Rist (CH), Dilmana Yordanova (RO/BG)
opening performance:
FACELESS by Klaus Obermaier
April 27, 2017 to October 8, 2017
Muzeul National de Arta Contemporana, Palace of the Parliament, Bucharest, Romania
VIDEO | SLIDESHOW
VISAGE R-0-R ⋅ Klaus Obermaier