Thursday, November 7, 2013

Presentation!!

Growth Assembly by Sascha Pohflepp

Facial weaponization suite by Zach Blas


Sascha Pohflepp Background:

Sascha Pohflepp (born in 1978 in Germany) is interested in science and technology and their myths and realities, how they are reflecting our hopes for transcendence and how they are shaping the reality of our world. He has worked with numerous artistic and scientific collaborators on projects ranging from the microcosm of synthetic biology to the macrocosm of space exploration.

Sascha Pohflepp holds an MA in Design Interactions from the Royal College of Art London and a degree in media art from The Berlin University of the Arts. 

Zach Blas Background:

Zach Blas is an artist, writer, curator, and researcher whose work engages technology, queerness, and politics. He is the creator of the art group Queer Technologies, a founding member of The Public School Durham,  a contributing editor for the online journal Version, and a PhD candidate in The Graduate Program in Literature, Information Science + Information Studies, Visual Studies at Duke University. Currently, Blas is a resident at Eyebeam in New York City.

Zach Blas holds a Master of Fine Art, Design Media Arts, University of California Los Angeles; a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate, Art and Technology Studies, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago; and a Bachelor of Science, Film and Philosophy, Boston University.

Compare:

Both of these artists are very intelligent people and have a lot of interesting ideas. The works I chose from each artist come from a field revolved around conceptual ideas. Some being put into practice and others are speculated and not far off. Both of these artists revolve around science and technology and its advancing steps. Though Sascha's piece's are drawn and Blas's are tangible  three dimensional objects, they both have a very effective push at the message they are trying to get across. Both artists are looking towards the future in both of these pieces and attempting to make a statement towards what society will eventually evolve to. 

Contrast:

Sascha uses a series of drawings to present a concept that may actually develop into reality based on the current advancing pace of our technology. Sascha is purely concept driven with real world ideas thrown in. Zach Blas approaches a rising issue with how the government is keeping tabs and records of everything we do as well as the result of a study that shows people can tell your sexual orientation depending on what your face looks like. He addresses our privacy and sexuality and brings into light the extent of how the government is watching us and how they are using facial technologies to do it as well as the discrimination that follows someone being homosexual. Blas has workshops where he takes the participants faces and turns all of them into a mask that cannot be detected by these softwares and cameras and such. The weaponization of the face is one of the main ideas behind the mask. So Blas is making a statement through his artwork while Sascha is using the art to introduce future concepts and ideas. 

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