Anthropomorph

Occasionally the facial recognition software used in my Self-Portrait project will find a face in an inanimate object. This became the basis of Anthroptic, my collaboration with Benjamin Rosenbaum.

I noticed this one (the photo above) the other day and particularly liked it. Sometimes I cannot see what the facial recognition software is finding, but in this case it's pretty clear.

Susan Robb's "Warmth Giant Black Toobs"

Susan Robb is a Seattle-based artist whose work includes these 50' long, air-filled, sun-powered sculptures made out of garbage-can liners:

Warmth Giant Black Toobs, 2007
Susan Robb

At first the tubes seem to be moving in slow motion, but when humans enter the frame it becomes clear that the video's speed isn't manipulated.

Robb has also done some work where she creates a face out of landscape using image mirroring:

I Am A Land Animal, 2008
Susan Robb
Epson archival inkjet print, paper, glass, powder coated steel shelf
22 x 28 x 6 inches

It reminded me a bit of Anthroptic, a project I did with author Benjamin Rosenbaum in which we used facial recognition software to find faces where none exist (and tied them together using short stories):

"Citizens" from Anthroptic, 2006
Ethan Ham & Benjamin Rosenbaum
Photograph & audio

The story which goes with Citizens is one of my favorites from the series (I also particularly like The Gardeners of Rhododendrons). Click here to hear the audio read by the wonderful Vanessa Hart (or here to read the text).

The Present Group Retrospective

The Present Group is a cool art subscription service. Subscribers receive four small-editioned works of contemporary art per year.

If you're in the Bay Area, think about going to their one night, two-year retrospective show:

Where: 465 9th Street (9th and Broadway), Old Oakland
When: September 5th, 2008, 5-10PM

Included in the retrospective is Benjamin Rosenbaum's and my Anthroptic, which was The Present Group's premiere issue.

Anthroptic

The Gardeners of Rhododendron
Listen to story by calling 212-330-8284 ext. 6 (or clicking here)

Today is the last day of my show at PS122 Gallery in the East Village. Included in the show is Anthroptic, a project I did in collaboration with author Benjamin Rosenbaum.

It consists of eight photos that were selected from Flickr.com by a facial recognition program. Each photo is a "false match" where the face detected isn't human. Ben wrote a short story for each photo (and taken as a set, the stories interconnect and tell a larger narrative).

For the gallery version of the project we have setup a phone system so that people can call in and listen to the stories (as read by actors and, in a couple of cases, AT&T's text-to-voice demo program).

You listen to the stories by calling (212) 330-8284. Or you can visit our web-based version of the project.