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<TITLE>The Face Reader - call for papers Transformations</TITLE>
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<FONT FACE="Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:12pt'>CFP - Edited Collection: "The Face Reader."<BR>
<BR>
The Transformations Journal Editorial Collective invites submissions <BR>
for an edited collection focusing on questions of the face and <BR>
technology, provisionally titled “The Face Reader: Contemporary <BR>
Writings on the Face and Technology.” <BR>
<BR>
The face is a vital element in the grand narratives of being for <BR>
contemporary Western culture. It is the face that appears first when <BR>
the human is examined; it is the face that we peer into, that we search <BR>
for, and project signs upon. We greet each other, as human beings, and <BR>
we look into each other’s face. We read what is written there, and <BR>
perhaps even what has been erased. Yet, simultaneously, the face is <BR>
also a kind of public relations exercise for clandestine technological <BR>
becomings, for it is through an ever-complexifying system of <BR>
technological and pharmacological ‘cures’ that the perfected, cosmetic, <BR>
clear image of the human face is achieved and represented. The face is <BR>
everywhere in the media, on stage, on screen; it sits at the centre of <BR>
a vast apparatus encompassing lights, cameras, action, mirrors, make-up <BR>
artists and white-coated lab-technicians furtively grinding foetuses <BR>
into expensive white paste. The face is the ‘display home’ for the <BR>
future of the human; the face is where appearance starts, or takes <BR>
hold. And as we all know, appearances can be deceiving.<BR>
<BR>
For this collection, we invite proposals for papers that will examine <BR>
the status of the face in contemporary culture, especially as it <BR>
relates to technology. Papers could address (but would need not be <BR>
limited to) any aspect of the following topics:<BR>
<BR>
- The face in cosmetic culture: Botox, Restylane, anti-aging <BR>
technologies, and make-over culture<BR>
<BR>
- The close-up in film and the face in the media; the face of the star <BR>
and celebrity<BR>
<BR>
- Reconstructive facial surgery; face transplants<BR>
<BR>
- Facial recognition software; technologies of surveillance<BR>
<BR>
- The face in new media; Second Life, virtual faces and the avatar<BR>
<BR>
- Hiding the face; facelessness and the burqa<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
Please send 500-1000 word proposals plus a short bio to Grayson Cooke <BR>
at <FONT COLOR="#0000FF"><U><a href="g.cooke@cqu.edu.au">g.cooke@cqu.edu.au</a></U></FONT> by 15th September 2008. Enquiries about related topics <BR>
are welcome.<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
Dr Grayson Cooke<BR>
CQUniversity Australia<BR>
Bundaberg Campus<BR>
University Drive<BR>
Bundaberg QLD 4670<BR>
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