The face is a vital element in the grand narratives of being for contemporary Western culture. It is the face that appears first when the human is examined; it is the face that we peer into, that we search for, and project signs upon. We greet each other, as human beings, and we look into each other’s face. We read what is written there, and perhaps even what has been erased. Yet, simultaneously, the face is also a kind of public relations exercise for clandestine technological becomings, for it is through an ever-complexifying system of technological and pharmacological ‘cures’ that the perfected, cosmetic, clear image of the human face is achieved and represented. The face is everywhere in the media, on stage, on screen; it sits at the centre of a vast apparatus encompassing lights, cameras, action, mirrors, make-up artists and white-coated lab-technicians furtively grinding foetuses into expensive white paste. The face is the ‘display home’ for the future of the human, it is the ‘appearance’ of the human, the visage, the seen, the screen; the face is where appearance starts, or takes hold. And as we all know, appearances can be deceiving.

For this collection, we invite proposals for papers that will examine the status of the face in contemporary culture, especially as it relates to technology. Papers could address (but would need not be limited to) any aspect of the following topics:

- The face in cosmetic culture: Botox, Restylane, anti-aging technologies, and make-over culture

- The close-up in film and the face in the media; the face of the star and celebrity

- Reconstructive facial surgery; face transplants

- Facial recognition software; technologies of surveillance

- The face in new media; Second Life, virtual faces and the avatar

- Hiding the face; facelessness and the burqa

Please send 500-1000 word proposals plus a short bio to Grayson Cooke at g.cooke@cqu.edu.au by 15th September 2008. Enquiries about related topics are welcome.