tobias gutmann brings face-o-mat analog portrait machine to papua new guinea

tobias gutmann brings face-o-mat analog portrait machine to papua new guinea
all images courtesy of tobias gutmann

since 2012, artist tobias gutmann has been traveling the world with the ‘face-o-mat’, an analog drawing machine that ‘prints’ colorful and quirky portraits. that ‘printer’ is actually gutmann himself, who rapidly sketches abstract, whimsical representations of those facing him using a few humble materials. the project promotes social interaction and rejects overcomplicated technologies — the booth is made using everything from cardboard to pieces of wood collected from nature. since it’s conception, gutmann has travelled to stockholm, milan, tokyo, london, copenhagen, basel, frankfurt, madrid, zürich, san francisco, and paris, producing more than 1716 faces.

the papua new guinea edition of the face-o-mat is set deep in the forest 

most recently, gutmann brought the social portrait machine to his native papua new guinea. simplifying the concept and realization further, gutmann built the papua new guinea edition using natural materials found in the wilderness, with the help of the local community. he shared the idea, and results, with a school class in wamangu — a village deep in the forests — sketching the students amongst their surroundings. each individual left with a personalized art piece, capturing their unique personality in the composition.

students line up to have their portrait drawn

the booth is made using humble materials found in the wilderness

amongst the lush greenery, the face-o-mat offers participants the chance to have their portrait drawn on site

in 5 minutes, gutmann draws portraits of people in the community

the analog booth is painted to resemble a machine

humble materials are used in the making of each drawn portrait

each participant’s unique personality is captured in the composition

a student holds up his portrait created by the face-o-mat

each student leaves with personalized art piece

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