Mask and Masquerade

from Magritte A to Z, Pg 104-105

“Masks can also be about disappearance, the evanescence of a persona or their transition to a different level of reality. Traditionally the mask elevates the subjective world into a state of objectivity. It allows the wearer to assimilate with the outside world at the same time protecting him or her by concealing their real self. People also hide their weakness behind the mask, in the hope that it may also help them grow beyond themselves. As such, Magritte might be seen to use the mask as a kind of mirror-image of our perceptions, which are torn between semblance and reality. As in his ‘failed portraits’, the mask allows him to avoid falsification: the individuality or a particular figure recedes behind its objectified appearance, with the result that the image is spared accusations of imitation.”

Thesis – Multiple Identities of a Face

“Masks were an expression of humanity and nature as well as a statement of time and belief. They were a commitment to the future in that they spoke of the past in terms of the present. They were a symbol of continuation and an extrapolation of time linked to cultural survival.” – Gary Edson, The Parallel Nature of Science and Visual Expression, 4. Ingenious Expression, Masks and Masking, Pg 73

A person’s identity is the totality of self, constructed from how a person portrays his self in the present which links to the past and how one aspires to be in the future. In a lifetime, it is possible for a person to take on multiple identities according to the phases of life and perceptions of society. The quote by Gary Edson is apt in explaining the definition and purpose of masks which reflects the fundamental of this thesis. 

The act of ‘masking’ becomes a ritual in everyday life where we layer our identities to hide flaws and what is undesirable. We take on different personas in efforts to mask the self but in turn exposing our desires and ultimately, exposing the self as all these identities come from the same source, inside of us. This thus, creates a cycle that evolves in its own shell.

Masks Transcending Time – Finding Parallels 
Investigating through cultural contexts, parallels are drawn between early and contemporary culture. An analogy that is an appropriate representation of this would transcend time – like how Jung’s archetypes are a primal part of humans, ever present through various cycles of life.
Action: Investigative publication

The Progression of Masks – Mapping Comparisons 
Masks have evolved from being tangible in early cultures to something intangible in contemporary culture. Social uses differ in present context as compared to earlier context of time. A representation of this could be drawn from the structure of the tree of life, which laid is roots in Dogon culture and African cosmology.
Action: Mobil installation

An Alternate Meaning – The Displacement of the Face
In Gombrich’s essay, The Mask and the Face: The Perception of Physiognomic Likeness in Life and in Art, masks are seen as “…crude distinctions, the deviations from the norm which mark a person off  from others.” Gombrich has revealed another way of seeing a mask. It might not necessarily take on conventional interpretations.
Action: Sculptural series

Description

A person’s identity is the totality of self, constructed from how a person portrays his self in the present which links to the past and how one aspires to be in the future. In a lifetime, it is possible for a person to take on multiple identities according to the phases of life and perceptions of society.

The act of ‘masking’ becomes a ritual in everyday life where we layer our identities to hide flaws and what is undesirable. We take on different personas in efforts to mask the self but in turn exposing our desires and ultimately, exposing the self as all these identities come from the same source, inside of us. This thus, creates a cycle that evolves in its own shell.