Six projection screens are suspended in a half circle within a semi-darkened room. A face appears on each screen. Each of these expressive faces forms a character who displays a continuous cycle of emotional expression. The expressions constantly change—for instance, from happy to sad, sad to disgusted, and disgusted to angry.
Digitally processed photographic images create these credible, albeit uncanny, time-based sequences. As a result, the characters movements are virtual. The viewer’s attention is directed to the transitional moments and the changes within the states of emotional expression. These synthetic moments of facial articulation bring the obscure instant of emotion into focus, and simultaneously insert a dynamic structure to the original photographic imagery.
A level of interactivity reflects patterns of everyday communication which is by nature unpredictable. At times the virtual characters seem to interact, or they appear to gaze directly at the viewer and confront them with synthetic stares.
A new interplay of facial actions and reactions progressively occurs. The hypnotic nature of the scene absorbs the viewer who may catch themselves mimicking the facial expressions on view. From this digital investigation of the face, the ‘real’ and the artificial meet, and the power of the digital medium is revealed.
Images from the actors photographed for the series e-Motion. The layout of the faces is modelled on a image from a Facial Recognition study. The expressions depict the acted faces—not the computer generated in-between moments—of the characters.
Technical requirements
- Six projection screens (each 150 x 112 cm) - custom made from chip board, painted white
- Six video projectors, 3000 ANSI lumens
- Six DVD players or Mini-Macs
Edition
5/5
Exhibitions
- 2010 Present Tense National Portrait Gallery of Australia, Canberra
- 2005 Domain (part of the festival 24/7) Parliamentary Triangle, Canberra
- 2004 Art Australia Städtische Galerie, Delmenhorst, and Kulturstiftung Schloß Agathenburg
- 2003 Art Australia Kulturquelle, Sylt, and Galerie Seippel, Cologne, Germany
- 2003 Portraits (In Time) Taiwan International Visual Arts Centre (TIVAC), Taipei, Taiwan
- 2003 e-Motion Conny Dietzschold Gallery, Sydney, Australia (solo show)
- 2002 Villette Numerique (New Festival of Digital Art) Parc de la Villette, Paris, France
- Melbourne Art Fair Conny Dietschold Gallery
- 2002 Das zweite Gesicht: Metamorphosen des fotografischen Porträts Deutsches Museum, Munich, Germany
- 2001 selbst|porträt Kulturstiftung Schloß Agathenburg, Agathenburg, Germany
- 2001 e-Motion Moltkerei Werkstatt, Cologne, Germany (solo show)
Publications
- Desmond, Michael (2010) Present Tense: An Imagined Grammar of Portraiture in the Digital Age
- catalogue (2005) ANU School of Art, Canberra
- Walther, Andreas (2003) portraits (in time) catalogue. Taiwan International Visual Arts Centre, Taipei
- Seipel, Ralf P and Wussow, Indra (2003) Art Australia: Contemporary Art from Australia. Seippel Verlag, Cologne
- Das zweite Gesicht: Metamorphosen des fotografischen Porträts (2002) Deutsches Museum.
- Prestel Verlag, Munich
- Baumgart, Silvia (2001) selbst|porträt catalogue. Kulturstiftung Schloß Agathenburg, Germany
- National Portrait Gallery, Canberra.Domain—A Temporary Art Project
