Future Face - Softcover

Kemp, Sandra; Bruce, Vicki; Linney, Alf

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1861977689 ISBN 13: 9781861977687

Publisher: Profile Books Ltd, 2005

The human face has been admired, interpreted, disfigured, decorated, puzzled over, and reconstructed from earliest times. But what do faces mean? How should we interpret expressions? Does the face indicate personality? What makes our faces unique? Far from the world of facelifts and Botox, science is now embarking on undreamed-of facial reconstruction—a full-face transplant will soon be available as the ultimate new identity under the FBI’s Witness Protection Program. But what will such drastic surgery do to our perception of others—and ourselves? Future Face is a timely and thought-provoking study. Sandra Kemp, Director of Research at the Royal College of Art, is curator of the 2004–2005 “Future Face” exhibition at the Science Museum, London.

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About the Author:

Sandra Kemp is Director of Research at the Royal College of Art and curator of the Future Face exhibition. Vicki Bruce of the University of Edinburgh is a psychologist specialising in human face recognition. Alf Linney of University College London teaches medical physics.

From Publishers Weekly:

"A face transplant would involve removing the face, facial muscles and subcutaneous fat from the recipient ... The donor face from a recently dead person, complete with lips, chin, ears, nose, eight major blood vessels and even some bone would then be grafted into place." Leaving no stomach unturned, Kemp's fascinating study uses a combination of history and science to posit the future for the most engaging aspect of human morphology. From first impressions to appearance in death, the face holds an important place in the human psyche: every countenance is unique, and the human brain recognizes facial features instinctively. Yet scientists are still unable to explain in quantifiable terms what makes a face beautiful or to replicate the numerous expressions that cause the face to appear life-like. Manipulation or disfigurement involving the face may seem like the stuff of myth (Medusa), science fiction (Frankenstein) or performance art (plastic surgery artist Orlan), but Kemp's book places these events in the context of new technologies and the resulting set of ethical questions. Just as sculptors and surgeons worked together to reconstruct the faces of World War II soldiers, the collaborative effort of scientists and artists will continue to push the boundary for what is both possible and acceptable when it comes to recreating the human face. Wide-ranging and arrestingly illustrated, Kemp's book sits at the intersection of technology, medicine, cultural studies and aesthetics; it will pique the interest of anyone concerned with the politics of identity. In fact, the more bookish fans of "Extreme Makeover" should love it. 111 b&w photographs and illustrations.
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