Project Overview
Control_2.0 picks up the same aesthetic as Control_1.2 but with a different twist. To work well the previous version relied on there being a disconnect between the physical pointing device and the mouse cursor. The work was most effectively experienced in the instant that presumed control was subverted. To build a version that would work well on touch screens I started to look for a different way to have the machine distort the human drawings.
Using a webcam, viewers can take an image of themselves and then draw over a faded version of it. Instead of leaving a continuous line, the mouse pointer leaves behind a series of dots. This is a fun way to draw – providing enough guidance from the underlying image to accurately place features while allowing enough freedom for a sketchy, painterly feel with the dotted lines. It also enables users to build up areas of light and shadow.
Unbeknownst to the viewer, as soon as the image is taken, the software runs a facial recognition algorithm, identifying the 64 landmark points on a person's face. These points are then connected to form a facial grid. This invisible grid is aligned with the tracing image. Gradually, all points in the user's drawing begin to migrate from their initial positions to sit on the lines of the invisible underlying grid.
(These grids are primarily for the human viewer, as I don't think the connection of the points significantly contributes to face matching. However, they serve as a useful visual tool, echoing the familiar imagery associated with face ID technology in the public consciousness.)
Are we all just data points? I am interested in trying to push together the human and the machine aesthetic. The sketchiness and charm of a human drawing distorted by the machine's reading and reduction of it. Advertising has evolved towards hyper-personalization, moving away from the traditional, generic broadcast model. It's no longer just about targeting ads based on our search terms. Now, everyone's 'behavioural surplus' is fuelling the growth of behavioural futures markets. These markets generate predictive products that based on extensive data analysis and aim to anticipate and then influence behavior.
My work is motivated by wanting to provoke thoughtful engagement against this modern technological approach that reduces individuals to data points and then points the results back at them to attempt to shape their actions based on other peoples desired outcomes.
