Research : Mask

Mask as a disguise : To amuse / terrify people

The word "person" derives from the Greek word "persona," that refers to the mask used by an actor to play a particular role. The persona, or the "mask" that we each wear, mediates between ourselves and society and between ourselves and the Other (whether you define "Other" as divinity, God or universal truth) and has done so since the beginning of human time. (x)

As some individuals might take advantage of the mask and use it as a form of disguise - to amuse or to terrify people, the mask acts as some sort of confidence booster in the form of "a layer" for them. Look at females who put on cosmetics for an instance, the kind of mask as a confidence booster are none other than their make-up. Some might not understand the reason behind females caking up on all the powder and gooey substances, it actually leads back to the voices of the society. All of those that we see, we hear and taste. It has become a kind of self-respect for some females to apply make-up just so they could live up to their standards of life or to live up to the expectation of the stereotypes that females has really sharp features..etc. But truth be told they are all disguised as something originally not.

Everyone has their own sets of masks regardless of how close to perfection others might think you are. We wear them throughout the day, change them if we need to just so we could match up to others' level of perception, then finally return back to ourselves only when we sleep. I think carrying and wearing all these "masks" that we have is a kind of way we try to protect ourselves. Otherwise, the consequences of letting our guard down from not adjusting to your masks when it comes to different audiences is too high. That is why I believe we have a significant amount of people attempt/commit suicide on a daily basis. Again, all these are concerning the society we live in. The more modernized we get, the more we expect from each other because nothing ever stays good enough. Its always more, more and more. And so, when our true self can't catch up with the demands, we simply put together a figure we ourself would be expecting from others, use and interact with them : the mask.

Back tracking to the history in disguising,

"Sorcerer of Trois Freres", an image engraved fifteen feet above the cave floor of Les Trois Freres in France from 13,000 BC. The Sorcerer of Trois Freres, by virtue of his disguise, created an elevated level of existence that contained himself, the animals and his audience. As his candlelit image flickered high above his Paleolithic audience, the Sorcerer and the animals may have moved as one, returning life to his prey, his prey lending their powerful image and instinctual wisdom to him.

With these examples from early history we find that uses of the mask were many, including the mediation of a personal or societal relationship with the universal, evoking spirits of fertility and utilizing an aspect of the goddess deity for protection and prosperity. Throughout later history, mask-making was employed the world over. 

The masks of the First Nations People of the Pacific Northwest reflect a kinship between the owner of the mask and his or her clan’s ancestral animal spirit.

In its quietest moment a mask has the potential to transform. When the wearer dons the mask he or she ceases to be a private individual. Instead, the living energy that is brought to the mask combines with the spirit of the mask and both are transformed, that is, the spirit of the mask is embodied and the wearer of the mask is enlivened with spirit.

(x) 

 The adaption of the mask nowadays are often related to one fooling ourselves. Where the tradition seems to have masks as a tool for ritual practices or cultural dances, the people nowadays wear this invisible masks just to set out a positive/negative impression onto another party.

"We are so used to disguising ourselves from others that we end up disguising ourselves from ourselves."

– François La Rochefoucauld

Mask as a model of a human head or face/head of an animal

"A mask. Masks were worn by Greek and Roman actors in nearly all dramatic representations. This custom arose undoubtedly from the practice of smearing the face with certain juices and colours, and of appearing in disguise, at the festivals of Bacchus. Now as the Greek drama arose out of these festivals, it is highly probable that some mode of disguising the face was as old as the drama itself. Choerilus of Samos, however, is said to have been the first who introduced regular masks. Other writers attribute the invention of masks to Thesuis or Aeschylus, though the latter had probably only the merit of perfecting and completing the whole theatrical apparatus and costume. Some masks covered, like the masks of modern times, only the face, but they appear more generally to have covered the whole head down to the shoulders, for we always find the hair belonging to a mask described as being a part of it; and this must have been the case in tragedy more especially, as it was necessary to make the head correspond to the stature of an actor, which was heightened by the cothurnus. The annexed cut represents the grotesque mask of a Satyr, together with a tragic mask, which are contined in the British Museum. some of the oldest manuscripts of Terence contain representations of Roman masks, and from these manuscripts they have been copied in several modern editions of that poet. The cut annexed contains representations of four of these masks prefixed to the Andria." — Smith, 1873

What I understand from the usage of mask in ancient greek and roman times is that it creates a dramatic feeling that connects from the role to the appearance. Simply put, to be playing the role in the drama as expressive and in-touch as possible. I believe this leads to the next point,

Mask as a pretense : To hide one's true character or feeling

If the world has justified that a certain expression is right and a certain expression is wrong, then what happens to the people that believes otherwise and strive for acceptance and a stand in the society is that they turn to their "masks". Its the only way they could feel the existence they long for even if it takes for them to suppress their true character and/or feelings. Thats the beauty of the mask. It provides you a good standing if you wear them right, but it also mean that you would have to hide what you have to say, hence displaying the perfect theory of "there's no such thing as free lunch".

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Well, its up to different individuals to see and think about a "mask". Be it in a tangible or non tangible form, its really up to us how we decide to portray our idea of understanding.

Stay tuned to my next post regarding the "type" of mask I chose to portray and create to further enhance the importance and functions of our mask(s) in our lives.