Charles Sturt University (CSU) PhD student and artist Mr Tony Curran has taken his portrait of the Riverina into interactive territory.

 

During 2012, Mr Curran was artist-in-residence at the Museum of the Riverina in Wagga Wagga. As part of the project, Identify, Identity, Identikit, he spent many weekends in the city’s old Council Chambers building where he drew facial features of Museum visitors.

 

“I ended up with an identikit of enough eyes, noses, lips and eyebrows to be able to make 3.2 million unique facial composites,” Mr Curran said.  

 

“The logical mode of display for this identikit was through an interactive application.

 

“I have now produced one and it is available for iPhones and iPads from the Apple iTunes Store for 99 cents.  

 

“This is the first ever app that I've produced,” the artist said. “It’s been designed to be minimal, efficient and to emphasise the drawings that make up the project.  

 

“To use this application, simply download it.  There's a short loading screen and then a blank white screen.  If you tap around the centre of the screen, facial features appear.  If you continue to tap on those facial features they change to other random features of the same type.”

 

Mr Curran is doing his PhD through the School of Communication and Creative Industries at CSU, entitled Self Aesthetics or the Aesthetics of Self. He is exploring the body, the self and identity in art. He also lectures in art history and media arts at CSU in Wagga Wagga.

 

In addition, in 2012, Mr Curran completed a Bachelor of Arts (Visual and Performing Arts) (Honours) at CSU.

 

“I would like to thank all those who contributed to the production of my app, including a big thank-you to the Museum of the Riverina for hosting this project, and to all those individuals who donated their face.”