Automated facial recognition algorithms are increasingly intervening in society. This book offers a unique analysis of these algorithms from a critical visual culture studies perspective. The first part of this study examines the example of an early facial recognition algorithm called »eigenface« and traces a history of the merging of statistics and vision. The second part addresses contemporary artistic engagements with facial recognition technology in the work of Thomas Ruff, Zach Blas, and Trevor Paglen. This book argues that we must take a closer look at the technology of automated facial recognition and claims that its forms of representation are embedded with visual politics. Even more significantly, this technology is redefining what it means to see and be seen in the contemporary world.
Price: $40.00
Pages: 198
Publisher: transcript publishing
Imprint: transcript publishing
Series: Image
Publication Date:
27 December 2019
Trim Size: 8.86 X 5.83 in
ISBN: 9783837648461
Format: Paperback
»Durch die produktive Verschränkung von sozial-, medien- und kunstwissenschaftlichen Diskursen gelingt es der Autorin die Problematik der automatischen Gesichtserkennung in seiner vollen Breite, wie in seiner sozio-historischen Genese deutlich werden zu lassen.«
Lila Lee-Morrison, born in 1977, is a PhD student of Art History and Visual Studies at Lund University, Sweden. She has published texts on the political and cultural implications of machine vision, including the use of biometrics and drone warfare. She received a B.A. in Political Science from Hunter College, NY and an M.A. in Visual Culture from Lund University.
Frontmatter 1
Table of Contents 5
Abstract 9
Acknowledgements 11
Chapter 1: Introduction 15
Chapter 2: Eigenface 55
Chapter 3: Francis Galton and the Composite Portrait 85
Chapter 4: Wittgenstein and the Composite Portrait 101
Chapter 5: Portraiture in the Age of AFR 117
Chapter 6: Metaportraits: Thomas Ruff, andere Portraits 125
Chapter 7: Faces in Excess: Zach Blas, Facial Weaponization Suite 141
Chapter 8: An Algorithmic Ready-made: Trevor Paglen, Adversarially Evolved Hallucination and Eigenface (Even The Dead Are Not Safe) 159
Chapter 9: Conclusion 177
References 187
List of Images 195
