CG SELFIE

These days our devices hold huge amounts of data on each user. They have profiles with all of our photos, face and fingerprint information, habits, and movements. In some ways the digital self does not involve our perception of our devices, but instead the view our devices have of us. The “Face Scan” is the most direct example of this idea.

I began by using a LIDAR scanner on an iPhone to get a scan of my face. By orbiting around my head with the camera, I had a mesh of polygons in the general shape of my features. I then desaturated and simplified photos of myself facing and emoting in different ways. Referencing the perspective of the photos taken, I rendered the point clouds with polished materials and realistic reflections. Overlaying and cropping the scan onto the picture merged the figures into one, leaving the uncanny result.

With any task that asks me to examine my self, I have difficulty defining my identity. I find myself heavily relying on my devices for organizing my thoughts, especially using photos to reflect on the person who I have been. In my digital art work, I am once again relying on technology to define the ‘self’, and showcasing the perspective that our devices have of us, no matter how we may view ourselves.