Interactive data sculpture: a camera captures visitors and reconstructs their portraits as live mosaics of social media images, exposing how digital traces co-author self-image.
Concept
In contemporary digital culture, the self does not originate from within but is constructed ecstatically at the surface — in reflections, feeds, and image streams. The title references philosophical discussions of "specularism": a condition in which experience is pre-formatted by external mediations. Our bodies become composites of images we did not choose, and even the act of looking becomes a data event.
How it works
A camera, a large display, and a custom engine map facial features to a curated repository of social media images. When a visitor steps into the frame, the system captures their face and reconstructs it as a tessellated mosaic of hundreds of images drawn from public feeds. As the dataset updates, the portrait shifts — never fully stabilizing.
Context & credits
- Developed during the British Council's Connect for Creativity residency in Belgrade — a 42-day program, 12 artists selected from 400+ applicants across Europe; co-funded by the EU and the Republic of Turkey
- Medium: interactive installation — camera, projection or large display, custom software (game engine), real-time data feed; variable dimensions
- Photography: Eti Kastoryano
Acquisition
Sold as an installation package: licensed software, source configuration, installation documentation, and edition certificate. Designed for re-installation; can be configured with local datasets or non-personal placeholder datasets per institutional ethics policies.