In-Your-Face Portrait Machine

Last month at some kind of event at the Corvallis Arts Center, Leela and I stumbled into the surreal world of Betty Turbo and her "In-Your-Face Portrait Machine." This is what the machine looks like:

Note elbow of artist behind machine.

Here's how it works. When you approach the machine, the little window opens and a smart-phone-like device, wielded by a surprisingly human-looking hand, takes your picture. Then the window closes and you adjust the manual settings: 1) Regular Weird or Ultra Weird or somewhere in between, 2) Lo or Hi Flower Power or somewhere in between, 3) Sunny Skies or Rainy Days or in between. You put a donation in the slot and wait patiently. Finally your portrait emerges.

Leela and I gave it try, adjusting all manual settings in the middle. While waiting for our portrait, we perused the other artworks of the mastermind behind the Portrait Machine. Betty Turbo seems to have built an empire on weird pop-culture imagery with a really edgy twist (see her Facebook page for more insight). She offers greeting cards, chapbooks, and other such items.

At long last, the Portrait Machine, that wonder of cardboard technology, emitted a convincingly electronic gurgle, and out slid our picture. Here it is:

Leela & Austin rendered by In-Your-Face Portrait Machine

Thank you, In-Your-Face Portrait Machine (and Betty Turbo, too)!