gretchen
Hacks systems of power with art, code, and glitter
CHAPTER 1
Portraiture
FACETUNE PORTRAITS
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Throughout history, prominent individuals have indeed utilized portraiture as a powerful tool to represent themselves, their status, and their power. Each time has its own values reflected in portrait trends.
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Roman Emperors: Showcase their divine authority and emphasize their connection to the gods.
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Renaissance Kings and Queens: Reinforcement of lineage.
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18th-Century Aristocracy: Used to solidify social status and reinforce family connections. They used objects such as having lots of letters around to show how busy and successful they were.
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Oliver Cromwell's famous portrait by Sir Peter Lely he is said to have wanted to be painted "warts and all"
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What is THE Portrait of our current time? And what does it say about what we value?
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Today we exist in a constant tension between who are and who algorithms and AI say we could or should be. We exist uncomfortably with our digital selves and feel the pressures of impossible beauty standards.
FACETUNE PORTRAITS
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Even if you don't know the term "Facetuning" you know what I'm talking about. These image modifications popular on social media platforms like instagram and tiktok are even built into our iphone cameras and a popular setting on Zoom. They process to make us more beautiful, or at least more acceptable. They are normalizing, homogenizing, and controlling. They tend to compress human diversity into a single look known as Instagram Face. People are increasing getting plastic surgeries and injections to mirror this AI-driven beauty standard.
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To what extent is facetuning a choice?
Most people may inflict it upon themselves but a peer-reviewed paper by Gretchen's studio with a summer 2024 publication date in EVA British Computer Society proves that by conforming to these algorithmic beauty standards platform users get increased exposure.
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References