During my bachelor project I took part in a small theatre ensemble of the psychiatry of Klinikum Bremen Ost called AUFBAU OST, which focused on improvised performances driven by the process of creating a mask to form a character for the play. Based on my experience in the group I decided to examine the theme of masks for my bachelor project.
Why is it, that masks are commonly used as synonym for dishonesty, when in theory masked persons act shamelessly and thus more authentic? If we associate asymmetry and facial expression with individuality, the optical simplification and standardization of the mask seems to restrict personality. Masks are often regarded as interposed units, blocking our view of the naked and honest face. But are humans not naturally prone to masking, simply on account of their protective function?
Originating from the greek understanding of masks in the term "Prósopon", which describes the apparent opposites of face and mask as a combined entity, as a combination of the inner (face) and the outer (mask), I created a series of eight masks around the theme of the seven deadly sins as described in Dante Alighieri's second part of his Devine Comedy, the purgatory.
For the deadly sins I decided on aluminum masks as they would have about the same weight as racing helmets and thus be worn more consciously than typical paper masks. Besides the terminology of purification was formerly used in metallurgy and I supposed this would fit quite well to the story. The mask for the main actor on the other hand, had to be different, for the character of Dante I chose glass. For one thing it would reflect his counterpart, secondly it would distort his own appearance, since the inner side of the mask has the same surface as the actors face and the outer side has a spherical shape. This implementation reflects the idea of Prósopon.
