Face Code 2134 (Kyoto) by Andreas Müller-Pohle is a still image that was created from video footage. Through digital manipulations, all the portraits adhere to a certain set of rules. The structures of the face, such as the eyes, nose, mouth and chin are located at a specific position. Scrolling through the portfolio online of the various portraits is eerily strange as it seems as if the eyes do not move all but the face changes. All the portraits depict a person with facial features in the same location, staring straight forward at the viewer.
Another aspect that Müller-Pohle included was the string of text at the bottom. The artist had opened the image as an ASCII text file and used this ASCII code to translate it to Japanese. Although I cannot read Japanese, I know that Japanese and Chinese bear many similarities in terms of writing. To me, these characters are nonsensical; it is just a string of randomly chosen characters. I would assume this would be the same if a Japanese reader were to read it. However, this string of random characters is the image’s “genetic makeup.” All the portraits in her portfolio show faces with the facial features positioned at certain positions but their “genetic makeup” is different. What does that say?
This is when I noticed something while going through the portfolio for Face Code for the first time, the people all look the same. However, you can notice the differences. Some have a slight smile. Others look confused. Some have a dull look in their eyes. Others have that twinkle in their eyes.
Perhaps it means that even though all these people look the same, they are all genetically different. If we go past the genetics, wouldn’t all these people portrayed be different anyway? Perhaps this piece means that while certain people may look the same or similar to someone else, that does not mean they are the exact same person. The randomly generated string of text symbolizes that these people are different. I believe that the point of Face Code is to show that we all have similarities but we are each uniquely different.
To view more of Face Code, visit Andreas Müller-Pohle’s site.
