The traditional freak was a well known side show in circuses, carnivals and fairs in which distorted human figures were presented in order to evoke in the audience a sense of fear and provide a shocking form of entertainment.

Literally Freaks turns the tables, rendering the viewers into the freaks on display. The project addresses the phenomenon of human oddities in a humorous and lighthearted way. As part of it, a generative code produces a letters-based visual distortion, which is predicated on two-worded coordinates. The final result is a kind of barcode that distorts the faces of the visitors photographed in the exhibition. Viewers are invited to become active participants in the process of image production by photographing their own faces, typing up their names (or two random words) and finally receiving a distorted portrait.

The starting point of this project was the work of artist, writer and editor Thieri Foulc, one of the founders of the OuPienPo group (1980). Foulc developed a method for portrait creation titled “Onomometric Coordinates”; based on a grid, this system manifests images using the first and last names of the individuals whose portraits are taken.