As Gems in Metal - Face 002

16:9 Algorithmic cinema installation

FACE 002 expands this exploration into the modes of cinema using Mining Industry Machine Learning (MIML) algorithms to direct a camera that prospects and drills geological scans. It investigates the act of searching for Rare Earth Elements (REEs), juxtaposing economic extraction with abstract meaning-making. Two algorithms operate in parallel: one replicates industrial techniques for ore detection, while the other searches for anomalies, patterns, and forms that defy quantification, embracing the phenomenon of pareidolia, where viewers find symbolic shapes in ambiguous stimuli. This dual approach transforms micro-geological investigation into a broader meditation on the act of searching itself, whether for capital gain or self-reflection. Through intentional disruptions and hallucinatory segmentation, this geological film reclaims methods of extraction, turning them into spaces of perceptual instability. The result is a continuously evolving cinematic image, displayed on a custom 16:9 LED matrix composed of over 2000 blinking lights. Through machine vision and advanced micro-technology, the visual material resists resolution, time, and frame; it instead becomes an endless exploration of geological imagination.