R
E
V N
E
X
T
ArtAsiaPacific designer WINKY TSANG’s rubber plate print Face Lock (2018) references a 50-year-old text to comment on our need for social acknowledgement.
“Imaginary Scenery” is a biweekly project by ArtAsiaPacific’s designer, Winky Tsang, in which she presents illustrated surreal scenes from her imagination.
Face Lock was inspired by philosopher Guy Debord’s treatise The Society of the Spectacle (1967) and our need to stare into “black mirrors” for approval, appreciation or assurance. The woman on the left represents the authorities that hold control over us by fulfilling our desire for recognition—she can be the state, a product or an app. In the 21st century, our faces are no longer a means of representing ourselves, but also keys to unlock our devices, or elements in indexed big data. In an image-driven society, where over a trillion photographs were taken last year, do we still hold power over our own visages?
To read more of ArtAsiaPacific’s articles, visit our Digital Library.