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.

Exploring : The term "ICON"

icon |ˈīˌkän|

noun

a painting of Jesus Christ or another holy figure, typically in a traditional style on wood, venerated and used as an aid to devotion in the Byzantine and other Eastern Churches.

• a person or thing regarded as a representative symbol of something: this iron-jawed icon of American manhood.

• Computing a symbol or graphic representation on a video display terminal of a program, option, or window, esp. one of several for selection.

• Linguistics a sign whose form directly reflects the thing it signifies, for example, the word snarl pronounced in a snarling way.

ORIGIN mid 16th cent. (in the sense [simile] ): via Latin from Greekeikōn ‘likeness, image.’ Current senses date from the mid 19th cent. onward.

iconography |ˌīkəˈnägrəfē|

noun

1 ( pl. -phies) the use or study of images or symbols in visual arts.

• the visual images, symbols, or modes of representation collectivelyassociated with a person, cult, or movement : the iconography of pop culture.

2 the illustration of a subject by drawings or figures.

• a collection of illustrations or portraits.

DERIVATIVES

iconographer |-fər| noun

iconographic |īˌkänəˈgrafik| adjective

iconographical |īˌkänəˈgrafikəl| adjective

iconographically |īˌkänəˈgrafik(ə)lē| adverb

ORIGIN early 17th cent. (denoting a drawing or plan): from Greekeikonographia ‘sketch, description,’ from eikōn ‘likeness’ + -graphia ‘writing.’ 

As humans, with or without religious beliefs we're all bound to come across icons, be it in the form of images, posters, large scaled painting, or statues (monuments). Every religion has a similarity whereby they have their own distinctive icons. Up till now we do acknowledge the existence of icons, but what we're missing here is the understanding towards it, towards the background and for some may argue, the purposes. It has to be there for some reason, and one of it serves as a visual interpretation of what you could 'expect' from that belief.

As I go deep into exploring the term "Icon" I basically went a long way understanding the background to it, the history, from when where and how it came about to using it as a way of communication in some icons found in some religion. My researches are internet based and through a book on "Icon Painting by John Taylor). But going through all what seems endless, pages of history on iconography, I came to realise that it all started with the very basics : turning the belief into a form of visual.

Pope Gregory I : "Painting is used in churches, that they who are ignorant of letters may at least read on the walls by seeing what they cannot read in books . . . To adore a picture is one thing, but to learn, through the story of the picture, what is to be adored, is another."

One particular piece of icon painting in Christianity that I came across in the book by John Taylor is the  Crucifixion, Venetian, 14th century.

If I weren't a christian myself, I would have understood the whole situation at that time by looking at the painting. So in another sense, the painting communicates even to those who are completely unaware of the story behind a story.

So I've mentioned in my previous post on Dr Martens boots, I would have to be able to enhance the essence of myself into an icon, regardless of it being in 3-dimensional or 2-dimensional, in order to make those who are interested in my work have another level of understanding of who I am or what to expect from me. Since I'm all about "style is what makes you shine", this brings me into researching about a style I like : Pastel Grunge.

Grunge is a subculture in the 90's, mainly consisting of shagged appearance. The theme I'm interested in is the incorporation of pastel into the grunge scene. Where harsh edges are twisted with some gentle elements.

Here are a few photos I've found from a magazine by Topshop (An apparel store originated from the UK) that carries the elements of pastel grunge in the form of clothings and jewelry, that I will be using as a reference for the outcome of my icon.

Research : DR. MARTENS x The Story of An Icon

//Cover of the book//

As the content of the whole topic for the first project is rather broad, I try to associate my researches based on my personal style, as I believe its important for someone as a designer to come up with something that has a distinctive, trait of yourself behind your artwork.

So I've started off my research by sticking to the Fashion category, and I thought it would be great to read up on the famous Dr. Martens boots as its the kind of style that I personally really really like. I got the book from the library, in case any of you would be interested and read up a little on it too. I have a short attention span when it comes to reading so the book had graphics and photographs which helped A LOT.

The first pair of Dr Martens boots was in the production line in the 1960's. And as you can see in the attached photo, Dr Martens boots are in leather and chunky. The cherry red are the simply the classic piece.

I was introduced to this brand of boots when I was in my early teen years, when I started to like a particular style of dressing from the subcultures of Mods, Rockers and Grunge (Of course I didn't know the "terms" to the subcultures back then till I recently had to come up with a poster of a subculture in Visual Culture). The boots are the staple piece in their dressing and seeing something so bold and statement making I couldn't help but fall in love with the beauty of the boots.

And it made me wonder, that why out of everything, the youth subcultures chose the DM boots?

Here are some 4 steps to iconography I have discovered through the whole design of the DM boots.

To design an icon :

1. Have a Classic

If you want to come up with something in hopes that people would recognize the brand of it, then come up with a variety of designs in the same pattern. Just like the DMs. It has the same shape but each design has different types of quality. Like the types of leather, the colour of the leather, the prints on the leather, and whatnot.

2. Durability

Everyone goes for quality at one point or another. It was the quality that comes along with a pair of DMs that made it a craze in the battle grounds for soldiers and youngsters. The soles of the boots are resistant to Oil, Fat, Acid, Petrol, Alkali. So I think its better to come up with something that could be in the target of most of the audiences.

3. Music

Design something that would be of a good companion to music. That way it could be reached by more people.

4. Being an icon yourself

Parade yourself in your own artwork! Get it out there as a brand of you. Young designers need to get known too.

Research : Dane Cook

So when I started my research on stand-up comedy I came across Dane Cook. The name wasn't exactly unknown to me nor its well-known. I came across him from a movie a couple of years back and it is a PG18 movie titled "Good Luck Chuck". I advice you to not watch it if you're the type to feel uneasy with explicit contents, but otherwise the movie was good. So this Dane Cook guy is actually an american stand-up comedian and has released several comedy albums.

I took a look at some of his videos to get some inspiration on the upcoming Stand-up Comedy Assignment, and boy was he good!

I realised through the videos he tend to interact more with jokes that relates to people, jokes that actually make sense and that it happens in our everyday life. There was this show on "The friend Nobody Likes" and when he voices out the thoughts that people are actually thinking when they're not talking, is the best part of it all. (Scroll down to the end of the post to listen to the podcast version) It suddenly makes a lot of sense, that we all think the same thing but act the other way round. We all know the same thing but decides to be oblivious about it. The intonation of his voice are what highlights the point of his whole comedic story and he just goes with who he is.

I think its very important that we connect who we are to what we're doing, to how we should be able to reach out to an audience. If we can't be true to the people around us then we as aspiring designers would have a really really hard time trying to fit in with the rest of the world. This time it may be comedy but in the future we'd have a larger array of expectations to meet, a larger crowd to please.

Research : Judy Chicago on Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo.

Judy Chicago on Frida Kahlo : The power and originality of F.K's paintings. She expanded the scope of art, making room for the private, the shameful, the hidden, and the ignored, demonstrating that these are all aspects of the human condition. Kahlo was able to transform her private reality into universal truths, thereby transcending the rallying cry of 1970s feminism-that the personal is the political. Instead, her work teaches us that through art, one person's private universe has the capacity to reveal many people's experiences.

See : Kahlo's work on "The Dream" (1940) Oil on canvas.

Kahlo : "Since my subjects have always been my sensations, my states of mind and the profound reactions that life has been producing in me, i have frequently objectified all this in figures of myself which were the most sincere and real thing that I could do in order to express what I felt inside and outside of myself.

Kahlo belongs to that small group of artists for whom the absence of conventional training is not a drawback.

See : Portrait of Luther Burbank by Kahlo (RIGHT) (pg69 on Frida Kahlo : Face to Face by Judy Chicago )

Frances Borzello : "Self-portraiture has a long tradition of being used by artists to speak about themselves and their concerns. With modernism, the tradition expanded to include the depictions of psychological and emotional states, a development which interested the women who became artists in the twentieth century."

Research : Conceptual Art

• In some sense Conceptual art represents an extension of the urge to self-reflection and self-criticism in modernist art. Artists since Manet had been questioning various aspects of their art - its material support, the character of its audience, the institutions which conferred value upon it. Conceptual artists merely pushed this further, abandoning traditional media in the process.
• An important characteristic of most Conceptual artworks is their radical 'dematerialisation.' Artists who pursued this path were often influenced by the simplicity of Minimalism, but wished to do away with the bold and bulky forms of Minimalist sculpture and find an art of the barest essentials, one that need not take any physical form at all.
• Conceptual artists link their work to a tradition of anti-aesthetic artwork whose greatest exponent was probably Marcel Duchamp. Abandoning the traditional notion of the art object as something beautiful, finely crafted, and highly finished, Conceptual artists sought to trouble the category of art itself.
• The analysis of art that was pursued by many Conceptual artists encouraged them to believe that, if the artwork was begun by the artist, it was in some way completed by the audience. This idea later gave impetus to what has been called 'institutional critique,' in which artists turned their attention to the institutional contexts in which art is exhibited, and hence to the social, political, and cultural values of society at large. One famous example of this is Hans Haacke's MoMA Poll (1970), in which he used a poll taken from visitors to MoMA to criticize one of the museum's trustees.

info from : ehow.com

"One and Three Chairs" by Joseph Kosuth

Stephen Wirtz. Ph by http://www.artbusiness.com/1open/firstth0908.html

Pascual Sisto