I Asked The Magical Machine: Desktop Lecture Performance im Rahmen der Ausstellung Sheung Yiu . (Inter)faces of Predictions

In the organizer's words:

In his exhibition (Inter)faces of Predictions, Finland-based artist-researcher Sheung Yiu (*1991, HKG) explores how faces are read, measured and instrumentalized across cultures. In this desktop lecture performance, he follows two parallel epistemic strands: the ancient interpretation of birthmarks, rooted in Taoist cosmology, and the modern method of statistically recognizing facial features. Both claim to extract truth from the face, but each relies on a different belief system - spiritual divination versus algorithmic inference - and show how meaning is manufactured rather than discovered. Yiu draws on a visual archaeology of face reading, from Mesopotamian stone carvings to the East Asian birthmark tradition, and links it to current debates, such as Kosinski's investigation that facial data can predict sexuality or political affiliation, be it speculative or cautionary. The performance leads the participants into a rabbit-hole of contradictory interpretations. Which reading of our face seems more credible - the fortune-telling of millennia-old mystics or the cold calculation of today's AI? Are they merely different manifestations of the same unfounded prediction?

EN

In his exhibition (Inter)faces of Predictions, Finland-based artist researcher Sheung Yiu (b. 1991, HKG) explores how faces have been read, measured and instrumentalized across cultures.

In this Desktop Lecture Performance he follows two parallel epistemic threads: the ancient mole-reading tradition rooted in Taoist cosmology and the modern facial-landmark method of statistical learning. Both claim to extract truth from the face, yet each rests on a distinct belief system-spiritual divination versus algorithmic inference-showcasing how meaning is manufactured rather than discovered.

Drawing on a visual archaeology of face-reading-from Mesopotamian stone carvings to East Asian mole lore-and on contemporary debates such as Kosinski's exploration that facial data can predict sexuality or political affiliation, whether speculative or cautionary, Yiu invites us into a rabbit-hole of contradictory interpretations. Which reading of our faces feels more credible-the fortune-telling of centuries old mystics or the cold calculus of today's AI? Are they merely different guises of the same baseless prediction?