Ethan Ham is showing work that was created using computer facial recognition.

Anthroptic is a series of eight photos in which the computer detected a face where none exists. Each photo has a corresponding short story (which can be heard by dialing 212-330-8284) written by author Benjamin Rosenbaum. Anthroptic was commissioned by The Present Group for an artists’ book. A web-version of the project can be seen at http://www.anthroptic.org.

Mirror is a vertical monitor that displays the mirror image of the viewer, along with superimposed lines displaying where the facial recognition software believes the viewer’s face and eyes are located. Pressing a button uploads the viewer’s image to Flickr.com and displays the previous viewer who most closely matches the current viewer.

Self-Portrait´ is a small sculpture that displays photos from Flickr.com. The photos were selected by the facial recognition software as being likely to contain the face of the artist. Since October 2006 the software has evaluated 3.8 million photos and selected 150 as being a portrait of Ethan. The online version of the project, which can be seen at www.turbulence.org/Works/self-portrait, was commissioned by Turbulence.org with funding from the Jerome Foundation.

The facial recognition algorithm used in these projects was kindly donated by Neurotechnologija.

Ethan is a sculptor and installation artist who often uses kinetics, electronics, and computers in his artwork. His recent shows include the PS122 Gallery, a showing of Rhizome.org commissions at The New Museum of Contemporary Art, and a group show the Photo Resource Center in Boston. Recent commissions include ones from The Present Group, Turbulence.org, and Rhizome.org. Ethan’s background includes stints in the computer game industry as game designer, producer, programmer, and executive. He is an Assistant Professor of New Media at The City College of New York.

Aaron Kreiswirth is exhibiting a selection of photographs from his ongoing series Inflected Topographics. The work is a study of public spaces and the collective, underlying emotion that is manifest in the form and composition of these contemporary landscapes. There are ordinary moments, scenes of leisure and relaxation, yet a vague disquiet disturbs their commonplace facades. The images depict the sublime, superficial beauty of the developed world while channeling a current anxiety and alienation that appears to be a growing and ominous facet of our present societal course. A sense of foreboding arises in contrast to the sunny exteriors and we are left with the impression of a glorious world teetering ever closer to the edge of spiritual abyss.

The exhibition also includes Apples and Oranges, a short conceptual video that is at once a playful stop-motion abstraction and a violent and strangely unnerving political satire.

Aaron Kreiswirth is a photographer and documentary filmmaker who lives in Brooklyn, NY. He recently graduated from Pratt Institute with an MFA in Photography and holds an MA in Media Studies from the New School and a BA in Philosophy from Cornell. He has recently exhibited in group shows BAMart (Captured: Ten Pratt Photographers) and Hunter College (CAA NY Area MFA Exhibition) and is featured in the current edition of Revista Asterisco, a Colombian-based art publication. Aaron’s work is included in the Inventory of Daniel Cooney Fine Art and in the private collections of various NY-based clients.