Roy Feinson

Roy Feinson is a South African born artist, writer, software engineer, and founder of DoubleTake Images. He is perhaps best known for pioneering the genre known as impressionist mosaics, in which the imperfections of natural materials such as turquoise or marble are organized to create ethereal artworks. An early pioneer in the field of photographic mosaics, he is also credited with being an original inventor of predictive text used in cells phones and holds a [http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=/netahtml/PTO/srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=4754474.PN.&OS=PN/4754474&RS=PN/4754474 U.S. patent] for an interpretive tone device for the deaf.

With a degree in photographic science and visual communication, Feinson has designed many graphic and scientific software applications including artificial life, artificial intelligence, and [http://www.doubletakeimages.com/forensic.htm forensic image analysis.]

Feinson's three best-selling books [http://www.animalinyou.com/ The Animal in You] (St. Martin’s Press), [http://www.amazon.com/Animal-Attraction-Roy-Feinson/dp/0312198280/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222283975&sr=8-10 Animal Attraction] (St. Martin's Press), and [http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Universe-Names-Roy-Feinson/dp/1585675946/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222284492&sr=8-5 The Secret Universe of Names] (Overlook Press) have been translated into ten languages and focus on the evolutionary underpinnings of human behavior. He is currently working on a book about how animals actually see the world. Feinson has been interviewed on CNN and hundreds of radio shows, and was featured in the documentary Behind the Orange Curtain, in which he discusses his philosophy of art and science.

Feinson is the art director and a board-member for the non-profit [http://www.projectsnap.org Project S.N.A.P.] , a nationwide mission that gives students a voice through artwork. The organization creates giant environmentally themed murals made out of original artwork from children around the globe.

His award-winning artworks are on display at [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb5554/is_200701/ai_n21887379 The Detroit Science Center] , [http://www.detroitzoo.org/Newsflashes/2008_Press_Releases/%222008_Year_of_the_Frog%22_Mosaic_Murals_on_Display_at_Detroit_Zoo_and_Belle_Isle_Nature_Zoo/ The Detroit Zoo] , The Grammy Museum, and many other universities and public locations across the U.S.

Philosophy and Art

The way in which the human brain perceives the world is a central theme in Feinson’s work. Of particular interest is the way in which our brains construct an illusion of reality through vision. As an artist he feels a responsibility to evoke new ideas and present the world in a way it has never been seen before and is currently working on creating software tools for artificial vision.

Musicality also informs his work and in 2007 he was selected as the featured artist for the [http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2007/05/09/grammy-anniversary-museum.html Grammys® 50th anniversary] , for which he developed a new free-form photographic mosaic technique to represent the idea of music itself; in the same way a chaotic, multiple instrument jam session might transform into a singular breathtaking harmony. “…"Roy Feinson, is a true artistic innovator and has created a brilliant mosaic that reflects our journey and brings the past, present and future alive in an amazing, detailed image," Neil Portnow, President of The Recording Academy."Continuing to push the boundaries of art and science, Feinson recently invented a process to create [http://www.doubletakeimages.com/invisible.htm invisible mosaics.] Constructed with a combination of plastic and polarizing materials, the mosaic appears transparent to the naked eye but when a viewer dons polarizing sunglasses, the mosaic explodes with color and reveals hidden images.

The Disney Projects

For its 49th anniversary celebration, Disneyland® commissioned Feinson to create the [http://www.doubletakeimages.com/disney01a.htm world’s largest photographic mosaic] spanning more than 10,000 square feet. It was unveiled in a live event featuring over one thousand Disney cast members each holding a 3'x3' photo of themselves. In front of invited quests outside Sleeping Beauty's castle, the spectacular presentation was kicked off with a prerequisite drum and bugle fanfare as employees hoisted pictures above their heads to reveal a mosaic of Mickey Mouse. After a few seconds, a number of pictures were lifted on cue to simulate a wink from Mickey. For its year-long 50th anniversary celebration, Disney commissioned Feinson to create 38 large-scale mosaics for The Happiest Faces on Earth, using photos taken by visitors at the park over the past 50 years. His engrossing installations featured some of the most iconic characters from Disney’s beloved movies including The Lion King, Sleeping Beauty, Winnie the Pooh, The Jungle Book, and Fantasia.

Disney wanted something very special for the park's Town Hall entryway and Feinson created the first [http://www.doubletakeimages.com/disney1.htm tri-level mosaic] ever made. A mosaic image of Steamboat Willie was made up of cast member images, which in turn were mosaics made from photos of guests. More than 366,000 photos were used to create this 900-square-foot mosaic and every photo could be located via a booth next to the installation. The tri-level mosaic echoed Walt Disney’s sentiment that Disneyland would not exist without the help of the cast members, and the cast members would not be there if it were not for the guests.

The Animal in You

Published in 1998, [http://www.amazon.com/Animal-You-Discover-Secrets-Personality/dp/0312180403/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222386400&sr=8-1 The Animal in You] (St. Martin’s Press) was a best selling exploration of why people tend to resemble animal personalities. The book was based on the observation that every ecosystem in the word, including the ocean, tends to only have about 50 ecological niches for species that include top predators, top plant eaters, burrowing animals, small scavengers, etc. Feinson contends that each of the fifty types of human personalities mirror one of 50 animal personality types due to social pressures that force each of us to adopt personalities in which we best function. Similar to the process called convergent evolution.

The book features a [http://www.animalinyou.com/survey.asp test] that users can take to determine their own animal personality. he underlying structure of the test was developed using a specially constructed algorithm that applied custom curved weights to each of the nine questions and was the forerunner to the many personality tests found on the Internet today.

The Secret Universe of Names

Published in 2004, The Secret Universe of Names (Overlook Press) proposes that sounds in our languages contain primal connections to our animal past.In one example Feinson explains that low-frequency sounds, which carry over long distances, are usually used in the animal kingdom to convey threats like the bellowing of a buffalo, the beating of a gorilla’s chest, or the banging of a drum. Since these sounds are designed to travel a distance, the issuer of the sound is conveying that it is unconcerned that potential predators or rivals may detect its presence. The sound if full of confidence and aggression.

Conversely, high-frequency sounds, which do not carry over long distances, are designed to communicate to those in the immediate vicinity without alerting predators. This is why dogs will bark aggressively using a low-frequency tone to warn off potential trespassers, but switch to high frequency yelps when overwhelmed.

Feinson shows how much of our language is infused with sounds that mirror the words’ meanings. For example, the low-frequency “B” sound is the initial letter of beat, break, batter, bash, bellow, bang, and boo, while high-frequency sounds are employed in words like psst, shh, hush. This is why mothers subconsciously adopt reassuring high frequencies (motherese) when talking to their babies by appending high frequency endings to their words as in kitty, doggy, booties, etc. Some societies, like the Xhosa and Kung Bushmen (in which communal hunting plays an important role) make extreme use of these high pitched sounds though a variety of clicks and whispers.

Feinson details how each of the twenty six letters of the alphabet resonates with a particular primal sound, and shows how our names -- when infused with these sounds -- alter the perception of others and ourselves.The results of his survey of 68 million names, as well as those of other researchers, showed that people whose names begin with high frequency letters tend to be perceived as gentle and sensitive, while those with low frequency letters are assessed to be more assertive and dominant. People whose names begin with Es and Os are invariably described as being more emotional than others. This is perhaps because vowel sounds have unique properties in that they contort the speaker’s face into very specific expressions. Many words which begin with the letter E, for example, bring a distinct smile to the speaker’s face and are also emotionally expressive… eek, enthusiastic, excellent, ecstatic, egad, exuberant, excitable, and emotional, while the letter O – whose pronunciation creates a look of surprise -- is often used to describe conditions of astonishment or climax… ooh, ouch, oh, ow, oops, and orgasm. Each letter of the alphabet is explored and over 68,000 names are evaluated.