stevemcardle

-- AndrAndréé BerthiaumeBerthiaume

Since the Ancient Greeks used masks in ritual drama, cultures have embraced masks for religion, circumstance, identity and humour. Men may favour the Moretta mask, worn by women and kept in place by a button held by the front teeth therefore restricting the opportunity to speakCircumstance gave birth to the Plague Doctor Mask – long beak to avoid contamination while dealing with the plague

With only 5 minutes I’ve selected two periods in our history to examine –Renaissance Italy and the digital age

the more simple the mask the the more simple the mask the more ambiguous and more ambiguous and contradictory the charactercontradictory the character

Masquerade wasn’t about being somebody else, it was about being yourself without consequence.

-- Alexander PopeAlexander Pope

13th Century where masked men threw scented eggs at ladies, a practice shortly prohibited

It then became an opportunity for the wealthy to escape social conventions and gossip, flirt, fraternise with those of a lower status

While eliminating distinction, anonymity led to perceived immorality and restrictions on use

What would you say or do if you feared no consequence?

The characters of Commedia Dell’artetheatre were defined by their masks. They were not something to hide behind, in fact they required the actors to be more outrageous

-- Rodney DangerfieldRodney Dangerfield

Mask did not limit physicality of the theatre or expressionTraits were unified across masks to amplify certain characteristics – nose, forehead

Il Dottore’s mask is bulbous and exposes the cheeks to be highlighted and reddened Pantalone – long pointed nose

Zanni – low eyebrows, wrinkled forehead, the larger the nose the stupider the ZanniArlecchino – low forehead, crooked with evil intentions, small nose – intelligentIl Capitano – less mask to give large eyes for the audience to see them open in fear

While scenarios were often improvised with interjection of pre-determined lazzi(character’s joke), you can take the commedia characters and turn a traditional play into something completely different.

The contradiction of anonymity and privacy has never been so prevalent.

-- William William AstleAstle

We choose an avatar as a way of personifying our online presence, creating a personal brand, creating an identifier. How often do you change your profile images and why?

We use online as an opportunity to amplify and mute our emotions.

We’ve found a sneaky balance between anonymity and personalisation – if you know the person you can see how the avatar is similar but you couldn’t identify someone specifically by their picture.

Despite the best efforts of a lot of people we are discovering you can’t pretend to be someone you’re not for too long because your true identity will always come through

-- Oscar WildeOscar Wilde

So the digital world is your stage. How are you introducing yourself? How are you wearing your mask? What will it say about you?

stevemcardle

Photo credits: Anja Johnson ChisikilaurenFiat LuxeGiant GinkgoJared

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