Reading Vogue (2014)
Reading Vogue is a short video I created and presented at “Questioning Aesthetics,” a symposium organized by Michael Kelly, editor of the Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, 2nd edition (Oxford University Press). The symposium was held at the Pratt Institute in New York in September, 2014. The video relates to my essay on ‘data visualization’ for the Encyclopedia. My presentation was followed by a panel discussion in which I participated with Christiane Paul and Boris Groys.
The video consists of the complete December 2012 Paris issue of Vogue. I wrote a custom computer program to detect faces within the spreads. A visual script draws a graphic mask over each face indicating the relationship between facial features. A video is generated such that the pages turn sequentially from front to back. The piece is a commentary on the use of data collection, analysis and visualization by technology companies and research institutions to find patterns and predict trends.