How to Cite
Bartnitzek, Nina Kim: We hide faces so we may be seen: Queere (Un)Lesbarkeiten im Zeitalter biometrischer Identifikationsregime, in Avrutina, Alexandra et al. (Eds.): VER – WANDLUNG – EN: Tagungsband anlässlich des 100. Kunsthistorischen Studierendenkongresses in München, Heidelberg: arthistoricum.net, 2024, p. 35–44. https://doi.org/10.11588/arthistoricum.1096.c18706
License (Chapter)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Identifiers (Book)
ISBN 978-3-98501-116-2 (PDF)
ISBN 978-3-98501-117-9 (Softcover)
Published
11/27/2024
We hide faces so we may be seen
Queere (Un)Lesbarkeiten im Zeitalter biometrischer Identifikationsregime
The essay discusses the artwork "Fag Face Mask" (2012) by Zach Blas. Blas criticizes Automatic Face Recognition, which is often understood as objective and neutral. To protect oneself from it, he developed face masks using the biometric facial data of gay men. In doing so, he critically refers to studies that tried to prove that an artificial intelligence could read sexuality from the face. The mask therefore reverses the principle of biometrics and makes the wearer unrecognizable. Blas thus develops a "disidentification": the artistic work strategically appropriates cultural codes and transforms them into resistance.
