I’ve long been fascinated by the way images resolve differently, up close and at distance. This was a theme of last year’s exhibition, the Descendants, where my segmented and pixelized images worked differently from various viewpoints.
Part of the intrigue of portraits generally is that how you look at them makes a difference: lighting, distance and viewpoint all have an effect. Last year I found that my pixelized images looked quite surprising when viewed from the side. It was a revelation.
Researchers have now applied the same sort of intrigue to the Mona Lisa’s smile. Apparently Lisa smiles more when you look at her obliquely or blur the image. When you engage with a straightforward stare, many folks find that her smile “disappears”. An example of how focus affects perception: too direct an image and you can’t see the woods for the trees. The elusive Mona Lisa Smile: read more about the study
I thought it might be interesting to see if I could coax some of my portraits to change expression in a similar way. I didn’t find any hidden smiles. What I did find is that the expression changed – the aggregation of space forming a new image or at least an altered perception. A hidden expression.
I think the researchers may have missed something: For me, a smile emanates from the eyes and blurring slightly narrows the gaze and creates a more sympathetic feeling. It’s said that you smile with your eyes. What do you think?!
