INbetweenSTITUTE focusses on the Hybrid Face.
The program is introduced with a cultural historical analysis of the face in the Digital Age by Merlijn Schoonenboom.
Presentation, Discussion & Dinner, Merlijn Schoonenboom, Cultural Historian and Journalist @ INbetweenSTITUTE, Hybrid Space Lab, Berlin, 19 May 2023
Hybrid
Face
In the Digital Age, the face has become the most important representation of our identity. Firstly, to show ourselves to the world we use selfies and Zoom-meetings, which focus almost solely on the face. Secondly, digital facial recognition and emotional detection promise to identify the other on the basis of the face, and even unveil their most secret feelings. This focus on the face is not only the direct consequence of fast technical developments, but is also the result of a deeper desire stirring contemporary society.
In his cultural historical analysis, Merlijn Schoonenboom explores the ways in which the face has become so important in today’s society, and how this focus changes the way we use our face in daily life.
Merlijn Schoonenboom is a Berlin-based Dutch cultural historian and journalist writing on contemporary culture for international media. In Spring 2023, he is publishing his new book “The Face. A Cultural History from Veil to Selfie” (Amsterdam, Atlas Contact).
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