Portfolio Review: Google Glass Artist David Datuna Explores Perception by Painting With Lenses

Image via Complex Original

"This was when I first began to perceive the flag as not just a banner but a living organism, something that represented emotions and beliefs that were alive and always changing. Most of my work has involved a search for identity in some form, and this was the piece that opened the creative door to exploring nationhood and national identity with a very potent symbol."

"This was the initial experimentation with making the viewer an integral part of the work. The three Israeli flags represent three stages of this young country: one is the history and creation of the nation, one is the present, and one is just a white outline of the flag, which is where the viewer becomes involved. The intent is for each viewer to project his or her idea of where Israel is going onto the blank 'canvas.'"

"This was a work that really transcended an important boundary for me, the first portrait whose conceptual basis was not just depicting an individual, but trying to capture the energy of his time and the influences that made him who he was. We chose to create the face of Jobs with tiny photographic images of the Libertarian author Ayn Rand."

"I liked the idea of trying to capture this powerful man, widely perceived as being ruthless, by going for the unknown in Putin, so I created a portrait using tiny images of the Mona Lisa. I also am not unwilling to say that it was also the first time I experienced fear in making a conceptual statement. This was long before the Pussy Riot arrests, so perhaps I was right to feel some apprehension."

"This was a pair of facing portraits created for a show in Red Square in 2013. This installation was intended to ask a question about the history of Russia and their leaders: Have they ever really gotten rid of the idea of an all-powerful leader?"

"There was no statement here, just a question about what is true or not true: Just how close can the fine art world and contemporary entertainment get?"

"For my solo exhibition in New York in 2012, I wanted a signature piece that would explore further the concept of flag as living organism, so the pregnant flag was born. Actually, not quite born, just waiting for delivery. When I created it, the country was sharply divided by the 2012 Presidential election, and no one knew what America would deliver, only that the paths forward were dramatically different."

"I like this because it addresses the concept of different values in a portrait and how we perceive the subject: the push and pull of good and bad, and all the emotions that kind of character or personality can trigger in people. You are intended to feel the inherent conflict of Jackson."

"This is the title piece from my current solo exhibition in New York. Elements is crucial to the overall theme of the show. It's one of the most published books in history, a crucially important, scholarly book about the pursuit of absolute values. And my portrait show is about finding the fundamental values that go into the making of an icon. What are the elements that make them transcend mere fame or celebrity? How does history's shifting vantage point and our shifting viewpoints combine to create these icons? I paired the cover of the book with Einstein because he claimed that Euclid's Elements fired his imagination to be a scientist."

"This was taking the concept of the flag to another level, almost a limitless one. It was the first contemporary work to integrate Google Glass as a functioning part of the art. It was exciting because I could create a flag that explored many of those familiar themes (for me) of national identity and national consciousness, but one that was also truly interactive. The work was fundamentally about the art, but the technology element could literally allow thousands of people to express their thoughts and become part of my art and the ideas behind it. That's thrilling for an artist."