About FacesOf
Faces are everywhere.
Above doors. Beneath balconies. On fountains, façades, bridges and monuments. Some have watched the same street for centuries. Most of us never notice them.
FacesOf is an invitation to look again.
What is FacesOf?
FacesOf is an artistic and digital project documenting faces embedded in the built environment.
They may be human, animal, mythical, symbolic or somewhere in between. They may be carved in stone, cast in metal, modelled in plaster, painted, tiled or sculpted.
What connects them is not their material or age. It is their presence.
These faces form part of the character of our streets and buildings. They carry traces of craftsmanship, history, symbolism, humour, belief and imagination. FacesOf brings them together into a growing map of the faces watching over our cities.
Look closer.
The city has been looking back all along.A game of observation.
Locations are placed on the map, but the face itself is yours to find.
A clue might lead you to a doorway you have passed a hundred times, an ornament high above the street, or a pair of eyes hidden among the details of a façade.
Finding a Face means slowing down, looking up and paying attention to the city around you. The discovery is the point.
What counts as a Face?
There is no requirement that a Face be human.
A Face can belong to a person, a lion, a mythical creature, a monster, a symbolic figure or something that is difficult to classify at all.
Mascarons are an important part of FacesOf — but they are not the only kind of face we are looking for. Architectural ornaments, reliefs, sculptures, decorative heads, gargoyles, fountains, monuments, mosaics and other permanent works can all belong.
FacesOf focuses primarily on faces with a lasting relationship to their surroundings: things made into buildings, architecture, monuments and public space rather than images that happen to be there temporarily.
A living collection.
Every discovered Face can become part of a wider record of the city.
Over time, FacesOf aims to document not just where these faces are, but what they are made from, what they represent, when they appeared, who created them and what stories surround them.
Some of those stories will be known. Others may remain mysteries.
FAQ
Questions about FacesOf
Does a Face have to depict a human?
No. Animal faces, mythical creatures, hybrid figures, monsters and symbolic faces can all belong in FacesOf. A lion watching over an entrance can be just as much a Face as a human mascaron above a window.
Is FacesOf only about mascarons?
No. Mascarons are an important category within FacesOf, but the project also includes reliefs, decorative heads, gargoyles, sculptures, fountain figures, keystones, mosaics and other permanent or integrated works.
Do statues count?
They can. FacesOf is primarily interested in faces connected to a particular place. A public sculpture, monument or fountain can qualify when its face forms part of the experience and identity of that place.
What about murals and painted faces?
Permanent or strongly place-specific works may qualify, particularly when they have become part of the identity or architecture of a location. Temporary paintings and short-lived interventions are generally outside the core collection.
Does street art count?
Usually not as part of the core architectural collection. Long-standing contemporary works with a strong relationship to their location may eventually have their own place within FacesOf, but the project is not intended to become a general catalogue of graffiti or street art.
What does not qualify?
Faces that are temporary, commercial or incidental generally do not belong. Advertisements, posters, shop displays, mannequins, temporary signs and stickers would normally be excluded. The presence of a face alone is not enough.
Does a Face have to be old?
Not at all. A Face can be centuries old or contemporary. Age matters less than the relationship between the face and its surroundings.
Does a Face have to be on a building?
No. Buildings are central to FacesOf, but faces can also appear on fountains, bridges, monuments, gates, public sculptures and other permanent elements of the urban environment.
Why hide the exact Face behind a clue?
Because FacesOf is about noticing. A clue creates a small moment of exploration: you have to look around, interpret your surroundings and find something that may have been there all along.
Why photograph the Face after finding it?
The photograph becomes proof of discovery, but also part of the evolving visual record of FacesOf. Different people may encounter the same Face under different light, seasons and circumstances.
Can I add a new Face?
Community contributions are part of the long-term vision for FacesOf. Submissions should be reviewed so that the character, quality and provenance of the collection remain consistent.
Are exact locations always public?
Not necessarily. FacesOf is designed around discovery rather than exposing precise location data unnecessarily. Depending on the Face and context, a location may be approximate or revealed through the game experience.
Who owns the photographs?
Photographs remain connected to their photographers and should carry clear authorship and provenance. FacesOf is intended to document and present discoveries while respecting the people who created the photographs and the places and works being documented.
The city has been looking back all along.
FacesOf simply asks you to notice.Start discovering