Hair begins to grow beneath the skin, releasing its dead body to the surface. We perform rituals of washing, combing, and shaping the visible, dead portion of hair. The Hair Pins series of AR masks turns my head so that the back of my head faces the viewer and interweaves a projection of my face into various hairstyles. The AR medium allows me to combine live experience with the inanimate layer of a digital mask.
Hair can sense air movement and touch. Nerve receptors in the roots create a sensory map of tension, unique to each hairstyle. Through a series of relationships between hair and fictional pins, I wanted to give form to my sensory states.
Braid has the physics of a light rope. By turning my head, I can twist the braid in different directions.
Circle. Five small hairpins hold a strand of hair in place.
Crab responds to blinking. Closing the eyes triggers the extension and contraction of the hairpin’s springs.
Pin is a small decorative hairpin, enlarged to the size of a mask.
Beam. The invisible, rigid stems of hair are omnidirectional, like a needle-like covering.
For the project, I created face segmentation assets that allow the video signal to be divided into fragments and transmitted to objects in the scene.
Bonus. Preparing a white background for shooting.
