[PERMANENT BETA] THE LURE OF THE IMAGE

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The Lure of the Mask

Contributor/s: Yulia Fisch

I never use masks or filters for my digital self, though my physical one still believes that skin masks can supply me with the hormone of eternal youth. I do not trust the magic of augmented reality filters applied to my ‘wired body’[1]. I am sceptical of beauty masks applied to my Instagram Stories, though I feel it is an interesting phenomenon to look at.[1]

Private photo of the author with theYou Are Perfect filter applied

At the end of 2022 I was enjoying the performance by Denise Blikhan Medusa at the opening of the exhibition Regional 23 - Performing Traces at HEK (House of Electronic Arts) and that made me once again think about the mask and masquerade. Denise appeared in the space wearing a real mask, covering her face. She then started a live broadcast on Instagram – which was broadcasted on two flatscreens in the gallery space – and applied an AR filter to her face. The performance began. Denise was singing and narrating a story of violation, abuse, sexualization and objectivation of a person. The artist did not really look at the audience but rather stared at the screen, performing for herself or for those who constituted the virtual audience. During the performance the artist changed her costumes, with physical accessories accompanied by new digital masks.

02_HEK_Regionale23_Denise-Blickhan_Foto-Sophie-Gruber_10.jpg 13.7 MB

Denise Blickhan, MEDUSA Cycle 2022, Performance at HEK as part of Performing Traces – Regionale 23. Photo credit Sophie Gruber.

03_HEK_Regionale23_Denise-Blickhan_Foto-Sophie-Gruber_5.jpg 11.1 MB

Denise Blickhan, MEDUSA Cycle 2022, Performance at HEK as part of Performing Traces – Regionale 23. Photo credit Sophie Gruber.

I was thinking about filters and masks in social media. Is it an efficient and easy way for self-optimisation, improvement of your body and face? You can change the colour of your eyes, the shape of your lips, you can adjust the skin tone and cover all ‘imperfections’. You can make yourself alluring, fulfilling the expectations of those who consume you while watching your social media performance. Augmented filters change the features of our face, they optimise and act as sort of digital plastic surgeons, expanding our body into digital and providing it with a kind of ‘prosthetic’ coverage.

Private photo of the author with the Screening inside filter by artist collective Keiken applied

Jia Tolentino states that ‘as a medium, the internet is defined by a built-in performance incentive […] you can’t just walk around and be visible on the internet – for anyone to see you, you have to act’.[2] It is rooted in the way the attention economy is structured around personal profiles, where you should make yourself look good to get the reward of receiving the public attention. What does it mean to look good? Becoming goods? When we wrap ourselves to be sold on the attention market, what does it mean? How does it contribute to the further objectivation, sexism and misuse of the images?

In 2011 it was Snapchat (titled Picaboo that time) which introduced ‘Snaps’, multimedia messages where photos and videos could be adjusted and edited using filters, captions and effects. The application set the trend for users and achieved instant popularity among users, leading to the subsequent launch of AR filters on Facebook and Instagram.[3] The kickoff of the filters was made by the Ukrainian digital startup Looksery, which specialised in facial tracking, face modification and bandwidth optimisation technologies for real-time videos. This inevitably makes me think of the facial recognition and permanent surveillance we are all exposed in both the digital and physical world.

Images of Snapchat (formerly Picaboo) back in 2011, Screenshot from buycustomgeofilters

Our physical body connects to the prosthetic screen and the augmented body, which jointly form a ‘wired body’ (see Marginalia ‘Politic of Gaze). Our body simultaneously exists in both worlds, physical and digital one. What part of the identity is our face? What is happening with our identity when a face is masked? When we are masked, does it help us to become anonymous?

Artist Leo Selvaggio is literally ‘giving his face away’ to disrupt the persistent surveillance and subvert the algorithm which traces us in the city. In his project URME Surveillance, Selvaggio designs a printed mask with a 3D photo-realistic image that resembles his face. People are invited to apply the mask, to wear it while navigating the city. When somebody puts the mask on, the facial recognition system matches the image with the corresponding database entry and attributes it as Leo Selvaggio. This way people may get refuge from the permanent presence of video surveillance by covering their face with a mask. On the other hand, it disrupts the algorithm which traces the way the artist himself navigates the city, while hundreds of Leo Selvaggio appear in different districts and parts of the social space. These masks allow others to perform as the artist, while disrupting the system.

Leo Selvaggio, URME Surveillance, 2014, Screenshot of the work from Leo Selvaggio’s official website

Leo Selvaggio, URME Surveillance, 2014, Screenshot of the work from Leo Selvaggio’s official website

‘Facial recognition is an image-based algorithmic approach in which a system compares the image it obtains from a surveillance camera with a reference image it has stored in a database. It does this through a process called feature detection, wherein it analyzes the relationships between facial features, such as the distance and proportional scale between eyes, cheeks, lips, chin etc. When the system determines a match it can attribute the data attached to the reference images […]’, explains Leo Selvaggio.[4]

The project URME Surveillance was first exhibited in 2014.Since then the technologies of facial recognition never stopped improving. In addition, it has also become easier to track our presence in the city since we are voluntarily sharing data with our phones.

The lure of the mask draws our attention because it bears a mystery. There is something hidden and one is tempted to take it off or to unveil who or what is behind it. Does someone who is wearing a mask or an augmented filter seek anonymity? Or is it a way to play a role or to perform the one you want to be? Masks are also rooted in the performing arts and theatre. One puts the mask on, and the audience is waiting for a performance to happen. Is the mask or the AR filter an instrument of staging?

I feel there is a conflict between ‘hiding’ and ‘performing’ while wearing a mask or an AR filter. Suffering from the anxiety of being constantly watched, we are kept in the trap of social media. At the same time, without content production we fear our disappearance.

[1] Yasmin Ibrahim, Politics of Gaze. The Image Economy Online (Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 2019).

[2] Jia Tolentino, Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion (Random House: New York 2020), p. 8.

[3] ‘The Brief History of Social Media AR Filters’, Indestry, indestry.com/blog/the-brief-history-of-social-media-ar-filters

[4] Leo Selvaggio, ‘Am I seen? Identity as Technology,’ The Evolution of the Image. Political Action and the Digital Self (New York: Routledge, 2018), p. 127.

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>> Next meeting: 5 December 2023, 15:00 CET <<
>> Register here to join in Zoom: forms.gle/9KdcmRrreYvPww7E8 <<

This series presents a collection of thoughts...

The Logics of the Lure is a short essay collection in which researchers and curators reflect on the principles that underlie the lure of contemporary visual culture.
Investigating strategies of seduction, repetition and...