(Remote) Mind

‘(Remote) Mind – The Strangers are still me’ was the result of a collaboration between Barbara Rauch, the artist Georg Muehleck, Tim Hutton and Peter Hammond (both computer scientists). This video installation brought together the artists’ interest in the emotional expressiveness of the human face with the scientists’ interest in modeling the human face. The participants also shared responses to the collaborative process from their own practical, theoretical and philosophical positions. The collaboration arose as a result of a meeting between Hammond and Rauch at an event focusing on Computer Graphics and Virtual Reality where a common interest in physiognomy was established. Hammond’s primary research interest concerned image -based analysis of craniofacial abnormality arising from genetic conditions. For Rauch it was the emotional expression in the human face, its individual features and its references to lived experiences. For all participants an initial exchange of concepts and ideas was initially necessary to establish common ground. The collaboration began and evolved somewhat organically. Following a detailed discussion of the capabilities of 3D image capture devices, the face modelling software was developed by the computer scientists, in tandem with the ideas and artefacts generated by the artists. ‘(Remote) Mind’ was commissioned by and firstly presented at ‘art.tm’ gallery, Inverness, Scotland in 2001. Additional presentations and screenings were at the National Museum for Photography, Film and Television in Bradford from 30 June-3 July 2005; at Machinista festival in Glasgow, 2004 (http://www.machinista.org.uk/); Milton Gallery, London in 2003; it was shown in ‘Toward a Science of Consciousness’ conference, Tucson, Arizona in 2002 (http://www.consciousness.arizona.edu); and finally during the exhibition ‘TRACE’ Stephen Lawrence Gallery, University of Greenwich, London 2006. It was further presented and formed the basis of a research paper ‘The Ethics and Politics of Virtuality and Indexicality’, University of Leeds, 2005