‘The Adoration of Automation / The Automation of Adoration,’ 2014. By Marek Michalowski & Greg Katz, with collaboration from Thiago Hersan, Hideki Kozima, & Justine Kasznica. A wood relief triptych for the Pictoplasma Portrait Gallery, an exhibit of contemporary character design at the Kaufhaus Jandorf in Berlin and the Museum for Contemporary Art MARCO in Monterrey, Mexico from September 2014 to January 2015.

To celebrate its 10th anniversary, Pictoplasma staged a vast group exhibition that brought together new works by the 100+ international artists, designers, illustrators, and filmmakers who have most influenced the project over the years. Funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation, the Pictoplasma Portrait Gallery examined the genealogical dimensions of figurative aesthetics in the postdigital age. The installation was part of Pictoplasma’s ongoing investigation into the limits of face creation and animism. What are the minimum requirements needed for something to pass as a face and at the same time arouse maximum empathy in the viewer? Even in its classical manifestation, portraiture has always been less about recreating a person’s appearance than bringing out their true personality as they ‘look back’ at the viewer from inside the image.