In an attempt to see what some of the art world is saying about privacy and technology these days I ran across artist Zach Blas who is creating masks that I found to be very intriguing. Zach is taking pictures of people who share some sort of demographic such as race or sexuality. He then aggregates their physical features using 3-Dimensional software to create a mask that is then unrecognizable to facial recognition software. He began doing this because he was concerned that facial recognition technologies have programed certain physical characteristics as a base or norm for identifying very diverse groups of people.

The following video explains further how facial recognition technology heavily relies on norms of race, age, class, and sex. This inherently will cause the technology to discriminate against minorities which is what inspired Zach to create his “Facial Weaponization Suite” series.

What I find interesting about Zachs work is the way that it comments on how masks are viewed in our current society. Many countries around the world have laws making it illegal to wear masks during a protest. In New York it’s illegal for 2 or more people to be wearing a mask in a public place together. In Canada new laws can give people a sentence of up to ten years for wearing mask where a riot is taking place. Some of the fear around masks is legitimate and understandable but the government might be contributing to it for there own agenda of creating facial recognition databases. What is interesting about Zach’s masks is that they are simply worn by people who would rather not be racially profiled. Unlike the scary undertones that some local government laws might project, this time the good guys wear masks .

Facial Weaponization Communiqué: Fag Face from Zach Blas.

I for one think this is a nice change of pace for the modern mask. After all masks have been found in different cultures and societies for centuries. Ancient greece used masks to depict theatrical tragedies. Countries in Asia and South America placed gold masks on royalty for burial. In other parts of Africa and asia masks have been used in rituals related to hunting, fertility or religion. Masks are continually utilized today for purposes of festivities as well as protection from wind of cold . All of these examples are positive examples of masks being used throughout history, I find it refreshing to see an artist creating masks that draw attention to the fear that surrounds masks all the while questioning the validity of technologies that governments use to “keep us safe”.