Includes:
Fag Face Mask – October 20, 2012, Los Angeles, CA, (2012) pink
Mask – May 31, 2013, San Diego, CA, (2013) black
Mask – November 20, 2013, New York, NY, (2013) blue
Mask – May 19, 2014, Mexico City, Mexico, (2014) white
Facial Weaponization Communiqué: Fag Face (2012)

Vincent van Velsen:

He was one of the first artists to ask questions at the advent of digital surveillance methods. Various types of surveillance constantly keep an eye on us and therefore at least partially determine our lives. Zach Blas poses critical questions about our digital being and the internet of things. For example, he explored how machine learning is getting better and better at identifying and recording us, but is also capable of attributing certain character traits to us, which relate to our identity. He refers tot he fact surveillance systems can determine a person’s sexual orientation through its cameras. But these technologies – including their traditional relation to photographic media – also operate on the basis of numerous prejudices, which are programmed into the technology by the engineers’ subjectivity. In other words, so-called neutral systems are not neutral at all. Blas wanted to arm us against these systems, the eye of the state and data gathering of private companies. So, he developed a way of creating a mask that could not be detected by facial recognition technology. These masks give (back) privacy and invisibility to the wearer.