![[OLD FALL 2019] 15-104 • Introduction to Computing for Creative Practice](wp-content/uploads/2020/08/stop-banner.png)
Rottlace is a project fabricated by the Mediated Matter Group based at MIT. The series of masks is custom designed for the Icelandic singer-songwriter Bjork. From her newest album, Vulnicura, the Mediated Matter group drew inspiration from her messages of self-healing and portraying “the face without a skin”. The resulting product is a mask that encapsulates Bjork’s facial structure with a new layer of that represents a new identity.
The fiber tissues of the mask are computationally calculated with the curve directions of the point cloud data derived from Bjork’s facial scan. The bone-like locations are geometrically informed as another result from the data, but their material composition is graded from a spectrum of stiff to flexible, and from opaque to transparent-this information is derived as a function of geodesic distances given by the face scans.
What I admire about this work is how the project creates a collaboration between humanistic aspects and computational art. The world of generative, computational art opens many doors to encapsulating human elements and using digital technologies to convey it most accurately and elevate the information to new levels. The Mediated Matter Group combined both spectrums to fuse together a mask that encompasses this collaboration.