From my project proposal that I wrote at the beginning of FMP to now, my project has changed and evolved in ways that I could not have predicted at the start. I originally planned on casting people’s faces and making masks that reflected specific identities. However, as my project has gone on I realised that to give my masks regimented identities would have defeated the point in which I’m trying to communicate that is with the use of a mask, or any form of concealment, one can change their own identity and act to the new one that they have been given as freely as they please. Whether their own purpose for wearing the mask is that of protection, such as within society people commonly and metaphorically ‘put up a front’ or ‘wear a fake smile’ in order to protect their true emotions, however with a mask this protection is provided physically, not just metaphorically, or simply wearing it so that they themselves can escape from normal life and become an accessory to a higher power, one within which you can submit all trust in to, even if only for the time that the mask is worn. Thus what I am trying to communicate through my 3D, 2D and film work is that the mask beholds an importance and is relied on by its wearer as an escapist route.
The critical context in which I made my work revolves around societies need for escapism. Escapist techniques are prevalent in contemporary culture to the point that they’re hard to avoid should one try. Moreover, there is also now more than ever a growing community of people who question their own, and challenge others identity thus making identity a very hot topic of the time. I find these two factors thought provoking as I don’t believe that identity should be universal or for anyone else other than the individual. Moreover, escapism is relevant to this as the occuring demand for people to declare their own identity can necesitate escapism for some.
The research that I did impacted on my work in many ways. The books on masks, mostly revolving around the origins of masks such as in African Tribal culture, really influenced my project as they gave me a deeper understanding of the use of a mask and why they’re important, for example for protection. Furthermore, watching explanatory YouTube videos of people with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), and being able to understand from their perspective why, how and what their DID exists as was important as it showed me how one person can assume multiple different personalities, again as a form of protection, likely from severe childhood trauma. This effected me to try manifest DID in the masks that I made. I don’t think that the DID influence is necessarily apparent upon looking at my project from an outsider’s perspective as I haven’t referenced it as heavily or blatantly in contrast to my masks, however, this I believe works in my favour as within my research I gained the understanding that if a person has DID it’s not always obvious to outsiders, even when the person has switched/dissociated to their one of their alter personalities, thus having it as hidden theme within my work is a comment on the nature of the actual phenomenon. Furthermore, looking into artists such as Claude Cahun and Gillian Wearing who created hyper realistic masks also impacted my work as it helped me to realise the direction I didn’t want my masks to go as to make masks that look like the wearer would have defeated the point of a mask for a new identity. William Cobbing’s ‘The Kiss’ specifically influenced my double mask as it helped me to broaden my vision and see that a new identity does not have to come about from just a singular mask, but can be through the use of multiple masks as this helps the wearers to grow their new identities together and form a metaphysical connection through physical means.
I have evaluated my technical process of making each mask in more detail in my blog post ‘Masks explained and evaluated’. However evaluating my whole technical process I would say that more organisation and knowledge was needed on my behalf. At the start of the project I worked very independently and made lots of mistakes that could’ve been avoided had I scheduled more tutor meetings and planned out my time more effectively. On the other hand, having made those mistakes, such as over estimating how many mannequin heads I would need, caused me to learn to make sure I am checking in with the tutors every now and then. Furthermore, in the technical process I had some issues that also related to a lack of organisation from me as a lot of equipment such as paper, glue gun sticks and bits to make my masks with such as the white feathers and red snakeskin fabric, were understandably, not readily available, so I had to order them online and then wait for them to arrived. During this waiting time I struggled to get work done as the work that I wanted/needed to do I couldn’t until what I had ordered arrived. With better planning in advance I could’ve saved a lot of time.
Ophelia Bate 