"First and Second Beauty Composite", 1982
http://www.medienkunstnetz.de
Nancy Burson was one of the first artists to pursue the ideas associated with and technology involved in creating images that consist of multiple images but only specific pieces of each image. "Morphing," as described by Christiane Paul in the reading, is the transformation of a single object or image by means of combining the images in a way to make a unified object or image. The above pictures from Burson's Beauty Composites, First (left) and Second (right), are examples of "morphing." First is a compilation of Bette Davis, Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Sophia Loren, and Marilyn Monroe (Paul pdf, 12). The Second composite is the pooling of Jane Fonda, Jacqueline Bisset, Diane Keaton, Brooke Shields, and Meryl Streep (Paul pdf, 12).
"Mankind (An Oriental, a Caucasian, and a Black weighted according to current population statistics)", 1983-1985
http://clampart.com/2012/06/early-work-1976-1996/
"Five Self-portraits at Ages 18, 30, 45, 60, and 70", 1976
http://clampart.com/2012/06/early-work-1976-1996/
After viewing the above pieces several key things stand out to me, particularly the applications in modern society. Both of the Beauty Compilation pieces are of famed individuals with defining characteristics, be it her nose, mouth, hair-line, etc. The reading by Paul (pdf, 12) mentioned that similar technology as used by Burson is now employed in the police force to aid sketch artists in visualizing criminal identity by predicting ageing effects. This is a very useful tool that can aid in the capture of fugitive who may potentially change identities to escape incarceration. A similar idea to this methodology is presented by Burson herself in Five Self-portraits at Ages 18, 30, 45, 60, and 70. The natural process of aging is can be tracked and somewhat predicted by using the means inspired by Burson Paul presents the idea also that Burson's work shows how individuality is lost when the masses are combined (pdf, 12). This concept is illustrated by the work Mankind, where the clear definitions of race and ethnicity are hindered. I agree with this concept being a cause of debate and can think of a single example above all others: magazine models. The men and women (especially women) shown on the covers of magazines and on posters have had similar procedures done to their photographs to make the more appealing for profitable gain. The below image expresses my thought: when the image of women is skewed to a perfect image that is both unattainable by the general public and the combined features of various celebrities. This image is the compilation of the various celebrities of today combined using their defined facial features that are most "desired." What is real and fictitious in today's society is becoming harder and harder to identify.
http://au.ibtimes.com
The "ideal" face as proposed by Australia's Marie Claire magazine.
Burson's work need not be improved because I feel that it was ahead of it's time. The applications for such artwork have extended to modern society from some 37 years ago. Burson excels in her art form in her use of technology available to her and an open mind to combine many pieces into one. Knowing some of the actors that she used to create her Beauty Composite pieces, her skill was very accurate in creating these works. I think that her ability to show erasure of individuality can help to bring out the common things between many people in different populations, looking back at Mankind. I would be greatly curious to see how the images that she created at the beginning (namely Mankind, and the Beauty Composite pieces) have changed if they were recreated today.
It is interesting to see how Nancy Burson was able to change people's faces using the technology that was available at the time. I think that it provides an excellent comparison to see how technology has changed art over time. It was helpful that you posted the picture from a magazine because it shows how technology is used to digitally change an image of someone.
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