As part of a project titled Google, Algorithm, Error, and Contemporary Art, South Korea-based Soobin Academy has experimented with makeup and hairstyles that feature anti-facial recognition properties.
“This project explores the shifting terrain of aesthetics, art, and the irony/imperfection of technology in this age which is undergoing rapid changes due to new technologies and media such as Google Earth, artificial intelligence, and new algorithms,” explained Soobin Academy.
Google, Algorithm, Error, and Contemporary Art is based on artist and researcher Adam Harvey’s project titled CV Dazzle. The project name is derived from dazzle, a type of camouflage used predominantly by naval ships during WW1. Rather than concealing the naval ships, dazzle camouflage distorts visual perception. In doing so, the size and orientation of the naval ships are made difficult to discern.
With facial-recognition algorithms reliant on identification and spatial relationships of key facial features such as symmetry and tonal contours, the use of dazzle camouflage-inspired makeup and hairstyles can achieve concealment.
The Google, Algorithm, Error, and Contemporary Art project utilizes style tips from Harvey’s CV Dazzle.
