panGenerator's digital installation transforms selfies into gravel

a new installation invites people to take a selfie before instantly turning your portrait into gravel. created by panGenerator, a warsaw-based art collective it has been commissioned by the national ethnographic museum in warsaw as part of the institution’s TEEN AGE exhibition.

images courtesy of panGenerator

focusing specifically on the selfie culture, TEEN AGE offers a commentary on the culture of selfies through interactive installations. through this topic panGenerator references the ephemeral nature of technology whilst playing with the ideas of self-preservation in a digital era.

the installation begins by sending a selfie through a mobile web page before being displayed on a large screen. the image is then cropped, assumably using a face detection algorithm which translates each pixel into gravel, which fall beneath the monitor.