Vlatko Ceric: Algorithmic mirror
Artist(s):
Title:
- Algorithmic mirror
Exhibition:
Creation Year:
- 2007
Medium:
- Digital print on paper
Size:
- 18 x 13 x 1
Category:
Artist Statement:
These images represent a fresh view of the human face, obtained through various algorithmic transformations created by digital manipulation of individual pixels or pixel groups of a photograph of a human face. Viewers can imagine that they are standing in front of a curious mirror that shows various views of their own faces. In the digital era, the human face can be viewed in a way that was never before possible, due to both digital technologies and the ability of the algorithmic approach to dealing with image elements. Algorithmic manipulation of human facial elements enables one to see the face in a new way, due to the fact that the very same pixels that form the image are transformed or regrouped in unexpected ways. Since we are sensitive to even minor variations in human faces, we can sometimes feel uneasy about these algorithmic manipulations; however, even then we understand that we are discovering something completely new in something so familiar. One more aspect of algorithmic image manipulation is worth mentioning: the fact that one can make a transition from a figurative expression in the photograph to a completely abstract view of the human face. However, the presence of the very same color palette from the original photo makes it difficult for us to believe that new images that arise after manipulation have nothing to do with the original photo.
Technical Information:
This group of images was created using algorithmic manipulation of a single photograph of a human face. Different algorithmic techniques were used, all based on separation of a photograph into individual pixels. The entire area of the photograph was then divided into a matrix of equal squares, each represented by a matrix of pixels from a corresponding part of the photograph. One type of algorithmic transformation manipulates pixels inside each square via different techniques (for example, by mirroring pixels related to vertical or horizontal axes passing through the center of the square, or by choosing a single pixel in a horizontal or vertical group of pixels in a square and repeating it in the whole horizontal or vertical line inside a square). Another type of algorithmic transformation randomly repositions whole squares of pixels to different positions.
