Facial Weaponization Communiqué: Fag Face (2012)

Facial Weaponization Communiqué: Fag Face protests against biometric facial recognition–and
the inequalities these technologies propagate–by proposing the creation of “collective masks”
that are modeled from the aggregated facial data of many faces, resulting in amorphous masks
that cannot be detected as human faces by biometric facial recognition technologies. One
mask in particular, the Fag Face Mask, is generated from the biometric facial data of many
queer men’s faces and is a response to scientific studies that link determining sexual
orientation through rapid facial recognition techniques. These masks intersect with social
movements’ use of masking as an opaque tool of collective transformation that refuses
dominant forms of political representation.

Facial Weaponization Communiqué: Fag Face is distributed by Arsenal Institut für Film und Videokunst e.V. and Video Data Bank.