Joep Truijen

Department: Man and Communication
Website: joeptruijen.com

FACING AVERAGE

WHAT
An on-site installation consisting of a computer, a screen and a webcam that takes portrait photographs of everyone in a particular place and generates a composite image of the average face of all those people.

WHY
The installation encourages us to reflect on our assumptions about other people. Joep Truijen holds up a mirror to expose our deeply held prejudices. Confronting us with the average face provokes a conversation between us and the screen about the similarities and differences between people everywhere.

HOW
Each portrait photograph is layered onto the previous photographs, morphing them together to form the average face. This average is then projected onto the portrait of the current user.

QUOTE
Holding up a mirror to see those around us in relation to ourselves.