MAYA YENA

“NOT TO BE REPRODUCED” is an installation that produces “non-face” portraits of visitors. The images do not necessarily translate into a portrait lacking faces, however it is any face that does not match the digital criteria according to the biometric facial detection algorithm (the non-planarity of the face). The idea of an anti-face detection system is fascinating to me, because it utilises the same algorithms, whilst subverting the original intent.

The project is named after an inspiring painting, also titled Not to be Reproduced, created in 1937 by Belgian surrealist René Magritte. That painting depicts a man in front of a mirror who can only see the back of his head. The painting is considered a portrait of a British poet Edward James despite the subject’s face being absent. Like Magritte, I consider the entanglements of identity, reproduction, and simulacrum.