Feelscape

Turn the emotion of memories into art

Feelscape, the latest work by artist Matt Jukes, offers viewers the opportunity to capture the emotions of a happy memory in a timeless and unique colour-field work of art. This interactive artwork is created by and for the viewer, in a matter of seconds, as their facial expression is scanned, and their visible emotions are converted into colours, by a carefully constructed algorithm.

Capture your own memory at https://feelscape.art/

About the work 

Psychologists predict that in five years’ time we will look back and remember very little of the pandemic. In a period when time has passed both surprisingly quickly, and painfully slowly, there have, for most of us, been too few points of reference from which to create substantial memories.  As a result of this ongoing monotony, the mental health of many is starting to suffer.

For this reason, artist Matt Jukes, whose practice is all about memories and how they shift over time, has created an interactive artwork, Feelscape, which enables viewers to immortalise the emotions of a happy memory into a one-off colour-field landscape, without having to leave the safety of their own home.

The interactive experience invites viewers to pause for a moment, recollect a memory, breathe deeply, and re-experience the associated emotions. Each trace of a smile or flicker of a frown will be captured by the viewer’s webcam, fed into the Feelscape algorithm, and used to generate a unique piece of art, based on the colours associated with each shade of feeling. This artwork is then available to purchase, as a bespoke A3 (420x300mm) Giclée print on 305 gsm Hahnemühle paper, for £150.

How it’s all done

Feelscape works by using an algorithm created by artist Matt Jukes in collaboration with creative developer Jop Wielens. The algorithm utilises the viewer’s webcam to analyse the relative positions of the facial features as they recall their chosen memory. These are then compared and rated against the typical expressions of six key emotions – happiness, surprise, sadness, anger, disgust and fear. Each viewer’s unique expression will be made up of a mix of all of these emotions. In the algorithm, each emotion has been assigned a series of colours (a colourway), and the resultant artwork will be a blend of these, based on the overall expression value (percentage score of each emotion variable). 

The creation of the artwork takes place in the individual’s own browser, and so no personal data is shared. All that is sent to the server is the expression value, and this is only saved should the viewer choose to purchase a print. Those who take part purely for the enjoyment of seeing what is generated as they recall their chosen memories may, however, repeat the experience as often as they wish!