No Us (1 off)

2023

No Us (1 Off) is an artwork about the face and identity in imaging technology. The installations include three different but network-connected elements; a semitransparent mirror with a camera behind it, a projected ML-generated video, and a mechanical imaging device.

The camera behind the mirror captures portraits of the audience via facial detection. These portraits are merged with faces generated by an ML/AI system trained on images of famous French people. The resulting video displays faces that don't fit neatly into existing categories. This deconstruction of identity parallels Deleuze's idea that faciality codes individuals' faces to conform to societal norms and expectations. These machine-generated portraits disrupt these norms and open new possibilities for identity representation.

The captured portraits are shown on a "No Us Nipkow" projector. It is a custom-built imaging device based on historical and outdated technology: the mechanical televisor - a long-forgotten ancestor of modern television dating back to the 1920s.
The device consists of, among other things, a spinning Nipkow disc and a high-frequency modulated light. The images are dynamic, live, low-resolution, and flickering, resembling ghostly portraits of latent identities.

Thanks to:

La Bicolore, Paris
Dominique Moulon
FN Teknik, Odsherred
Thomas Sandahl

Supported by:

Danish Arts Foundation