The art of the human face

On Friday I participated in a research lab for the School of Biology. They were researching the the genetics of human facial expressions. The lab required that I sit in front of a super high tech 3D imaging camera and make faces for it to capture. Thirty minutes later it was done and I was officially apart of something that would hopefully lead to medical advancements and new technology, or at least that's what I hope for.

The strange thing about it was that they were essentially mapping out the part of the body that people spend the most time altering to look just the way they think everyone else wants to see them. The lab was studying the very reason my face laughs, speaks, and moves the way it does. They were studying the way I express myself without words, just the way a piece of art says it all without actually saying anything. They were analyzing the signs the very same way an art critique picks apart an art piece while trying to explain why the artist did what he or she did. It was art and science working together and for me, an artist and endeavoring chemist, there is nothing better!