Bald Man Wearing Glasses
Bald Man Wearing Glasses is an installation that examines self-perception under conditions of constant comparison. The work places the viewer in a situation where they are confronted with mediated versions of others, prompting reflection on how identity is shaped through observation and evaluation.
As everyday life becomes increasingly lived through screens, global images collapse into intimate reference points. Idealised representations of success, appearance, and lifestyle circulate continuously, blurring the line between inspiration and pressure. The work reflects on how these conditions produce anxiety, self-surveillance, and emotional dissonance, revealing the psychological weight of existing within environments that encourage perpetual comparison.
The installation operates as a visual echo chamber. Upon entering, the viewer’s image is captured and algorithmically categorised according to perceived attributes. This classification is then used to retrieve a stream of visually similar faces and bodies, which are projected using an infinity mirror technique to create an immersive, seemingly endless field of resemblance. Surrounded by algorithmically selected likenesses, the viewer confronts not a reflection of who they are, but a representation of how they are read. The work materialises the logic of machine vision, exposing how identity is flattened into searchable traits and re-presented as comparison.
By translating algorithmic sorting into spatial experience, Bald Man Wearing Glasses externalises the mechanics of contemporary self-evaluation. The system does not invent insecurity; it amplifies it, revealing how digital infrastructures continuously classify, rank, and mirror subjects back to themselves. In doing so, the work questions whether identity is still formed internally, or increasingly shaped through the feedback loops of automated perception.