Interactive Self Portrait

Sketching out ideas for project layout.. physical to digital idea.

An attempt in flash…

Final Project…
Click HERE to go to Final Site

Information Provided (in site as well - might be easier to read here)
Description:

The piece presented for my own self-portrait is a chronological order of old yearly photographed portraits taken, from birth to current day.
What’s occurring when clicking on the middle image is a chronological advancement of the string of those photos, that become transparent when overlaying todays current photo.
The purpose of this is to show how the face, portraits, and characteristics change from year to year, in contrast to the person I have become today, and what sort of information can be observed/assumed.
To interpret you could just look at the physical data aspects such as the facial structure and in likes and dislikes in time.
Personally I find interest in the data that is present that you cannot actually see:
Photo backgrounds and quality show advancement in portrait photography, and in some cases if access to proper information you can specifically find dates for each photo based on those attributes alone. Hair cuts and outfits. Based on physical appearance you could make assumptions into personality attributes. For example, the wild hair burgundy sweat shirt photo could possibly show when personal independence became predominant, having seen a serious of well dressed up ones prior. What could the tie-dye t-shirt in another represent knowing at the time I was in high school? In looking at this data what realization or understandings can formulate?


Explanation:
An Evaluation of Criteria - What Makes Up an Interactive Portrait of Self Data?

What is data? “The term data means groups of information that represent the qualitative or quantitative attributes of a variable or set of variables. Data are typically the results of measurements and can be the basis of graphs, images, or observations of a set of variables. Data are often viewed as the lowest level of abstraction from which information and knowledge are derived. “[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data]
In interpretation of the definition, data can then take on many structures that in result enhance a measurement/conclusion of some sort. Data represents the route of an idea/information, which then evolves to a realization or understand, that in return formulates to knowledge of a kind.

Interactive Portrait Art?
In the case of portrait art there is a personal data interchange. This junction of information is quite prevalent in todays word and manifests every time two or more persons converse, in either business or personal circumstance, face-to-face, or across space and time. This kind of contact can typically incorporate the exchange of casual material, such as phone numbers, addresses, dates, and times of engagements. It is Portrait art that conveys and actualizes some embodiment of these actions to an artistic depiction of a person; for example a painting or photograph.
The main focus in interactive art though is to break the once traditionally passive act of viewing ‘art,’ where the observer simply examines the painting or piece of work and marvels at the brush strokes, composition, etc.; and submerge the observer to become part of. The idea of such a portrait can be displayed many ways and by inducing interactivity with a composition it allows a bringing of life to and a creation of an entirely new range and capacity of art and appreciation.
It is then no wonder the many forms and processes this projected endured before the final resultant - as simplistic in manner it appears.


Stages In Reaching a Final Project

Currently studying the impact of the biography in literature initially sprung direction for work. Specifically the issues of bios and the information they convey verse true information, or interpreted information, being main focus.
Recently an experiment of which myself and another (whom was only an acquaintance) consisted of only an exchange of a wallet and purse. The idea was to break the traditional ways of finding the “abouts” of a person: instead of asking whats your favourite colour, where you were born, etc., find out for yourself as a sort of deeper exploration into whom that person is. The results were interesting and amusing to see how far off or close the information you interpreted of that other person was in their opinion; even going so far to assume personality traits simply by the way the wallet was arranged for example.
The entire experiences evoked certain feelings and ideas. Initially both parties felt it taboo at even the suggestion of such an act and in the act itself. It was as if you were rummaging threw someones things even though collective permission was given. Information is displayed on todays internet that allow for the same voyeuristic behaviours but people seem to do so without guilt in the idea there is underlying permission always there, yet who is finding/searching this info?
This was the kind of direction that specific project took that lead to my first portrayal of my portrait, the exploration of a persons bag (mine) to create your own assumptions as too what makes up whom they are. I explored different ways to show this (see blog) such as, having the physical object put on display in an installation format and then again on the net (this idea included the interpretation of how people connect and how its seen from each persons bag contents; ex. both having concert tickets, baby photos, etc.).
The idea lost its fuel in the want to try to see how different forms can create this kind of interpretation.
After many preliminaries the concept of the information you can interpret from the face itself fascinated and drew me in the most.
Being a fan of the physical creation of a principle (in the want to break from the computer screen) I was greatly influenced by Roy Ascott’s, Change Painting.
Specifically it was how he created a ‘painting’ that was able to be skewed and changed by each individual viewer themselves, to see and create a whole new piece. In incorporation of my theme this was an interesting notion. If the images used were the portrait itself, it could then be skewed and interpreted by each viewer uniquely and independently to be seen/translated differently.
This led to said current shown piece. If any adjustments were to be made, the next step would be installation to show how as one goes threw certain stages in life one can find physical data that shows this and documents it.
By this I mean for the portraits for instance, my mother made that a ritual that couldnt be broken and had to occur each year. As I grew the wardrobe would change, perhaps from being dressed up to dressing myself. Other information found when looking and depicting the grade school photos that could be incorporated for example may be height: On a archway back home there are dashes marked with dates and my current height, at a certain time there would become two dashes and this would be around the time my sibling was born, a few randoms would be found as friends I wanted to add, even my first boyfriends height would be marked and documented there too. Trivial? Maybe, but then this can also be turned around into understanding of cultural rituals and traditions; Im sure my household is not the only one to do this. Something else that reflects on that idea is when home videos started. I have two vhs tapes from when I was younger for specific event, first birthday and christening. When I was born to own your own video camera was too expensive and rare, so money was saved by my mother to have two such events documented. However with a ten year gap between siblings you will soon find there to be many more tapes with more trivial events documented on them, like ‘Mitchel Eating a Cup Cake.’ In cultural standards you can physically see threw this documentation the advances of video, how radially available technology becomes, etc.


Other Works/Artists/Information Encountered in Research:
Mary Bogdan - Madonna and Child Series
The History of Interface Art
Technology and Intuition: A Love Story? Roy Ascott’s Telematic Embrace Vinent Van Gogh’s Self Portraits
Specifically looking at the change with each portrait and what the painting content can inform us with in knowledge Van Gogh himself.
And then contrasting those ideas with other artists portrayal of the portrait, such as Andy Warhol.
About Face: Andy Warhol Portraits Mona Lisa - “Prototype of the renaissance portrait.”
Portrait Painting - The Fascination With the Portrait? Famous Portrait Artists
The Project Room - Peoples Portrait in Time Square
Is This Art? - Volume 15: Cultural Portraits and Animated Transitions
At a certain point you have to recognize how portraits expand and have been created beyond the person or individual.