Auto Portraiture — Carl Malmström

I present Auto portraiture, an artwork consisting of an algorithmic
image generator software created within the Processing development
environment, a computer screen and a webcam. It questions
perception of the computer as a linear machine with exact operation
by remediating pencil sketching portraiture in a software while
attempting to stay true to the aesthetical appearance and, to some
extent, the temporal demand of the original medium. The software
uses the webcam to capture a portrait photograph to use as input
which it passes through a number of algorithms that applies precise
and imprecise transformations to yield an uncertain output in the
form of a sketched portrait displayed on the computer screen. The
resulting sketch is presented sequentially, to mimic human sketching
on paper, and the process only advances for as long as the subject
stays still in front of the webcam. The intention of this software
artwork is to raise questions about surveillance, exteriorization of
tasks, power/value of digital image, and temporality/pace of social
media.