face(”portrait”)-10
108(W)x120(H)cm(image size）
digital print, translucent film and light box
2006

With transparent complexion and large, deep eyes, the android, cyborg-like, or even albino young girl stares at us. Although at first glance, each face may look identical, when close attention is paid to details such as the start of the hairline, the expression and colors of the eyes, and positioning of moles, one clearly becomes to notice the distinctness in each of the faces. Watanabe generates these female faces by first taking individual photographs of different models, digitally manipulating them, and then pasting them onto a computer-generated original mold. This process which resembles that of a skin transplant diminishes individual facial features to a minimum. Back in 2000 when he first began with the series, Watanabe literally painted the models in white, took a portrait photograph of them and displayed the photograph in a light-box. However, since 2002, he has been working on CG images. Neither distinguishable as human nor inanimate objects, the autonomous images that exist solely as superficial appearances problematize the relationship between the representation and the inner reality when discussing the origin of beauty. Furthermore, transparency of the images intensified by the light-box installation forces the viewer to question the reality of human existence. Portraits that are anonymous with lifeless features appear to eliminate all personal identities, but, in fact, they make the viewers become more aware of the features that are lost and missing.

透明的肤色和大大的凹陷的眼睛，仿佛是人形的机器人、或是合成电子人，甚或是白化病的年轻女孩直视着我们。初瞥每一张脸看起来全然一致，可近看诸如发迹线始处、眼睛的颜色、眼睛的神情、痣的位置之类细节，每一张脸的独特之处清晰可感。这些女性面庞的生成过程如下：渡边豪首先照下不同模特的照片，用数字设备加工，然后将其贴上计算机建的素模。这一模仿皮肤移植的过程将个体脸部差异减为最小。在2000年刚开始这一系列时，渡边豪直白地用白色涂抹模特儿，拍下她们的肖像照片，然后陈列于灯箱中。然而，自2002年起，他一直用CG图像工作。这些图像，既不可辩为人，亦不可辨为无生命的物，仅靠表面性自成一律的这些图像，质问了诉说“美”的表象与内在的关系。更进一步，由灯箱装置加强的图像的透明性迫使观者质疑人类的实际存在。这些匿名的、无机的肖像，丧失了其个人的面部特征，却使观者意识到在辨别个人性中那些特征的重要性。