KRISTINA CRANFIELD

 

Selected works

Manufactured Britishness

Requiem for Varna

Detention Grounds

Falling from Heights

Gene CHP-48/0Z-378

The Future of Mechanical Turk

The Geometry of the Crowd / One Minute Jobs

Mind Control

Charlie Chaplin Ate a Shoe

Ownership of the Face

Anti-Social

Ownership of The Face exercises
 

Ownership of the Face is a speculative narrative where the human face is an artefact that is highly commercialized and manipulated by external forces. It is a future where facial expressions of the work force are exploited purely for corporate needs and to advertise a strong and successful company image.

Through innovative design interventions, this project raises empathic concerns of workers to increase our cultural awareness of social standards and attitudes, and thereby bringing about positive changes to our working environments.

Fictional exercises

Stills from Ownership of the Face (2011)

screenprint

Police officer jaw training device

Stills from Ownership of the Face (2011)

mouth

Airhostess genuine smile device

Stills from Ownership of the Face (2011)

airhostess

Ownership of the Face is a fictional training guide devised for workers to exercise their facial expressions, by using the unique devices and exercises that I designed. This film explores the potentials in physical modification of the face and communicates the irrationality of demands flowing from occupational institutionalism and mass control mechanisms.

Deformation mask

Photography by Zhanna Bobrakova

Sewn by Masato Jones

masked

Deformation mask

Photography by Zhanna Bobrakova

Sewn by Masato Jones

masked

Media mask

Photography by Zhanna Bobrakova

Sewn by Masato Jones

masked
This digital mask is a tangible intervention communicating the notion that parts of the face are sold as a commodity. These masks use media techniques but conceptualise real time technology that edits the face to perfection in the workplace. They remove individual identity and create uniformed facial characteristics based on external and controlling objectives. Who would you wear it for? Your employer, your lover or your personal choice? masked
A concept which was developed from research on facial reforms and forced expressions. This mask gives power back to individuals, to express their personalities and protect us from social determination. This idea brings attention to the notion that we have reached a point where, without this intervention, we can no longer take control of our own face.
SPECIAL THANKS TO ONKAR KULAR, ANDREW WEATHERHEAD & JIMMY LOIZEAU