Strange(R)Faces: my first project in London

Strange(R)Faces 

Experimental project for integration in a multicultural and multiethnic context

(My first project in London)

Premise

In August 2014, four months after my arrival in London, I had the opportunity to carry out voluntary activities at  Simple Gifts, in quality of playworker on the occasion of the activities planned for the After-School Club.
Was participating at the After School Club activities that came to my mind the idea of ​​using animated pictures as a tool to facilitate mutual knowledge, in the past I had used the arts as a tool to facilitate communication and I also the animations for the realization of a theater representation but I had not with me the necessary tools to realize my purpose (It was all in Italy).
I bought a second hand portable PC  (100 pound), I returned to Italy, I loaded the necessary programs on my laptop and I returned to London waiting for the right opportunity to present my idea. I will always remember the day when Ann Howell and Rob Gregson asked if, among the volunteers, there were people who wanted to realize some activities. I was there, ready. There was, among the volunteers,  Andrea Alves, a young portuguese artist, to whom I asked if she wanted to participate in the realization of the project. Her contribution had been crucial at the time of realization of the portraits.

The IDEA 

(Art and technology as tools for social integration)

The basic idea is very simple but complex in its implementation. It involves portrait and animation techniques as tools for social integration.

The first step: two people sit facing each other, they are asked to make a portrait of each other and, at the same time, to ask simple questions like "where are you from or what is your favorite color ...", just to help breaking the ice; if on one hand you have the opportunity to observe the person in front of you,  staring him or her into your memory, on the other hand you have  the opportunity to strike up a conversation with someone who you  still do not know or, simply,  have an occasion for a deepen knowledge.
Once the portrait is done, is asked to the artist to write down what he/her think to know about the person portrayed.



The second step: in this phase the portraits became alive; thanks to an animation  program the images of the faces portrayed became cartoons, faces narrating a story; here is the particularity of the project, the faces do not speak with the voice of the model represented but with the voice of the artist who designed the face because, that face, is not and cannot be the represented but the idea the artist has about the person represented. What the face tells is what the artist believe to know about the person represented.





The last step: is about the creation and projection of a real film composed of all the "talking faces" in a sequence. The screening is a crucial moment, and not only for the group of participants at the activity, but also for those who did not participate at this specific project but take part at other activities at Simple Gifts as volunteers or clients. This is a good occasion to learn more about the others, to have a new perspective about the people "you think you know" or simply, you still do not know.

The socio-cultural integration starts here, by knowledge, by the exchange, the communication, in a welcoming, pleasant and even funny environment,

The activity was attended by adults and children from different parts of the world: Italy, Portugal, Turkey, Bangladesh, North America and many more,  and of any age from 6 to 60... .

The  movie is visible on the Simple Gifts website