Aaron Martins, Sohrab Fara, Brett Ciccarello
Envy of Narcissus
What constitutes a personality? What is an identity? Some would say our personality is created based on the interactions we have with others. We fill in the negative space created by the moods, actions, feelings, and perceptions of those around us wit our own personality and behavior. To invoke the cliché, “I think therefore I am.” We validate our sense of self, our knowledge of being by comparing ourselves against the identities of others, filling that intangible hole left by others that we know only we can exist in. Assuming this to be true, all which would be required to harbor an identity would be the ability to react to external stimuli. The Envy of Narcissus contains the barest representation of the human face. The hundreds of muscles that make up every expression, every thought, and every emotion are reduced to the five simple features that reside at the end of this complicated chain of skeletal and muscular interaction. The uncanny valley this is not. Yet, EoN shows a remarkable amount of interaction. EoN represents an attempt at personifying the impersonal, identifying the unidentifiable. It brings its beaten metal parts to life, yearning for such simple things as a face to gaze at, imploring a silent conversation between human and machine. EoN uses us as a mirror of its own desire, the desire to interact on a conscious and intellectual level.
