Foam 3H: Stéphanie Solinas
23 Mar - 09 May 2012
FOAM 3H: STÉPHANIE SOLINAS
Sans Titre (Monsieur Bertillon)
23 March - 9 May, 2012
In Sans Titre (Monsieur Bertillon) Stéphanie Solinas (France, 1978) analyses the identification system invented by Alphonse Bertillon in 1891. Bertillon (1853 - 1914) was a French police officer who developed "anthropometry," an identification system based on physical measurements. Anthropometrics was the first scientific system to be used by police to identify criminals. Previously, the only way to identify suspects was by way of unreliable eye witness accounts. Bertillon's method was eventually replaced by fingerprinting, but his other contributions, such as the mug shot and the system of photographing the crime scene, remain in use today.
The exhibition compiles the various facets of Solinas' study in a multimedia presentation: photographs with audio clips, the book in which the individual components of Bertillon's face are included, and an instructional video that shows how to make a three-dimensional mask from the book.
The mask
Solinas took the formulas developed by Bertillon and literally applied them to his own portrait (taken head on and in profile). Next, the portraits were run through a programme specifically designed to perform facial analyses. This produced a three-dimensional interpretation, which Solinas subsequently cut up into separate pieces, each of which represents a parts of Bertillon's face. In a video Solinas shows how all of the individual components can be put back together again to create a three-dimensional mask of Bertillon's face.
The photographs
Inspired by the biography The Life of Alphonse Bertillon, Inventor of Anthropometry, written by the inventor's niece Suzanne Bertillon in 1941, Solinas photographed various sites in Paris that played a significant role in Bertillon's career. The photographs are accompanied by audio recordings of passages from the book.
The book
All of the above-mentioned components are featured in the book of the same name that will be on sale in the Foam bookshop. Everyone is invited to take up the challenge of creating the face of Alphonse Bertillon in their own way and making it their own.
Biography
Stéphanie Solinas uses her work to explore contemporary ideas about identity that are informed by practical applications within photography. Solinas studied photography at ENS Louis Lumière. Her work is featured in the collections of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France and Musée d'Art Moderne Centre Georges Pompidou, as well as numerous private collections.
Stéphanie Solinas' work has been published in a variety of international magazines and shown in exhibitions in France, the UK, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Germany, the Czech Republic, Ecuador, Japan and the US. Solinas lives in Paris (France) and Barcelona (Spain).
This exhibition was made possible in part by the Van Bijlevelt Stichting and the Gieskes-Strijbis Fonds.
Sans Titre (Monsieur Bertillon)
23 March - 9 May, 2012
In Sans Titre (Monsieur Bertillon) Stéphanie Solinas (France, 1978) analyses the identification system invented by Alphonse Bertillon in 1891. Bertillon (1853 - 1914) was a French police officer who developed "anthropometry," an identification system based on physical measurements. Anthropometrics was the first scientific system to be used by police to identify criminals. Previously, the only way to identify suspects was by way of unreliable eye witness accounts. Bertillon's method was eventually replaced by fingerprinting, but his other contributions, such as the mug shot and the system of photographing the crime scene, remain in use today.
The exhibition compiles the various facets of Solinas' study in a multimedia presentation: photographs with audio clips, the book in which the individual components of Bertillon's face are included, and an instructional video that shows how to make a three-dimensional mask from the book.
The mask
Solinas took the formulas developed by Bertillon and literally applied them to his own portrait (taken head on and in profile). Next, the portraits were run through a programme specifically designed to perform facial analyses. This produced a three-dimensional interpretation, which Solinas subsequently cut up into separate pieces, each of which represents a parts of Bertillon's face. In a video Solinas shows how all of the individual components can be put back together again to create a three-dimensional mask of Bertillon's face.
The photographs
Inspired by the biography The Life of Alphonse Bertillon, Inventor of Anthropometry, written by the inventor's niece Suzanne Bertillon in 1941, Solinas photographed various sites in Paris that played a significant role in Bertillon's career. The photographs are accompanied by audio recordings of passages from the book.
The book
All of the above-mentioned components are featured in the book of the same name that will be on sale in the Foam bookshop. Everyone is invited to take up the challenge of creating the face of Alphonse Bertillon in their own way and making it their own.
Biography
Stéphanie Solinas uses her work to explore contemporary ideas about identity that are informed by practical applications within photography. Solinas studied photography at ENS Louis Lumière. Her work is featured in the collections of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France and Musée d'Art Moderne Centre Georges Pompidou, as well as numerous private collections.
Stéphanie Solinas' work has been published in a variety of international magazines and shown in exhibitions in France, the UK, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Germany, the Czech Republic, Ecuador, Japan and the US. Solinas lives in Paris (France) and Barcelona (Spain).
This exhibition was made possible in part by the Van Bijlevelt Stichting and the Gieskes-Strijbis Fonds.