THE ULTIMATE SELFIE
07 Dec 2017
An interactive public art piece in the US features a giant LED sculpture upon which visitors can project their own image as a statement of the representation of ‘self’ in a public environment.
Permanently installed in the greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio, As We Are is the first of its kind but others can be installed anywhere else in the world. The sculpture is a fourteen-foot (4.3m), 3D universal human head made from ribbons of ultra-bright LED screens. 
In the back of the neck is a photo booth capable of taking 3D pictures. Once a visitor has their picture taken, they step out of the booth and their face is displayed on the giant head sculpture. The entire process is automated: twenty-nine cameras take simultaneous photographs and stitches them together using a process called photogrammetry. The sculpture employs over 850,000 LEDs. 
The intent of the piece is to reconsider oneself in a unique context, to consider that representation in a public setting, and to recontextualise people from different cultures. As We Are resides in a public place accessible by all and is designed to achieve an imposing stature similar to traditional public monuments. The experience of seeing one’s portrait on a fourteen foot, 3D head in a public place may be daunting to some and brings to question our willingness to share. The piece is part of a 200+ piece collection of art in the Columbus Convention Center. 
Matthew Mohr, the artist, looks for a quality of beauty and intensity of emotion in simple, inconsequential moments, magnifying them as a reflection of humanistic ideals. 
