I was browsing through the list of artists listed on the site, and I came across Mary Flanagan’s [unnatural elements: avatar portraits]. The project initially took on a focus on how our “virtual personae and figures [that] we create in online space” compare to our personae and figures in reality. The team used computer software to construct a 3D portrait without using other commonly-used “Hollywood” software to smooth out the rough edges that most films do. During the project, Flanagan and her team realize that the computer is creating a portrait that has a stark resemblance to that of natural edges and shapes, specifically rocks and earth. Flanagan describes that the computer is disturbingly more “realistic” and natural than reality itself, in a way.

What made me take interest in this project is the initial focus of the project: how our virtual selves compare to our real selves. Our generation grew up with social media and other mediums from a very early age–not as early as younger kids–but nevertheless, we are very accustomed to social media and online networking. The twist that this project took was very interesting personally: how our virtual figures, when constructed entirely by a computer, is disturbingly more realistic than our own selves.