Date: 2019
Medium: Expandable foam, Acrylic paint on canvas
Size: 130/130cm
Social media is the contemporary polished social problem. The unstoppable growing pressure of belonging to the social media community is leading its addicts to look and live alike. Excessive requirements are being imposed on them, from the ongoing picture-editing, to being active and reacting fast in posting, liking, sharing, commenting… that is leaving them with the sense of “No Control” over their time, emotions, privacy and individuality.
This is not a face is centralized around the idea of the Social Media Faces; how our organic face with its imperfections, is obsessively aspiring perfectness in constantly pleasing and belonging. Looking from far, the viewer starts by seeing its shininess perfection, then the closer they get, a disturbing feeling of loss of control, insecurity and glitches of this pretend perfect world are seen. The use of an expandable foam, a material known to be uncontrollable with an unpredictable result reflects the reality of the effect of this virtual realm on its addicts.
The viewer will experience an intriguing optical illusion when looking at the face, not fully getting if it is a 3D face or its negative one.
This Is Not A Face was part of the Biennale of Contemporary Art 2019 – Universal Data; An exploration of our digital presence at MACAM the Modern and Contemporary Art Museum – Lebanon