Mask Designs

MASKING COLLECTIVE –

As we discussed, the word “mask” has complex meanings. The origins of the English word seem to be obscure, but related to two different (but related) sets of ideas, theater, and disguise.

1530s, “a cover for the face (with openings for the eyes and mouth), a false face,” from French masque“covering to hide or guard the face” (16c.), from Italian maschera, from Medieval Latin masca “mask, specter, nightmare,” a word of uncertain origin.

It is perhaps from Arabic maskharah “buffoon, mockery,” from sakhira “be mocked, ridiculed.” Or it may come via Provençal mascarar, Catalan mascarar, Old French mascurer “to black (the face),” which is perhaps from a Germanic source akin to English mesh (q.v.). But it may be a Provençal word originally: Compare Occitan mascara “to blacken, darken,” derived from mask- “black,” which is held to be from a pre-Indo-European language, and Old Occitan masco “witch,” surviving in dialects; in Beziers it means “dark cloud before the rain comes.” 

Figurative meaning “anything used or practiced for disguise or concealment” is by 1570s.

[https://www.etymonline.com/word/mask]

If we go back to classical times, the link to theater is clear. And it shows how the link to human identity has a dual sense. 

Latin word persona has an uncertain origin: it possibly comes from Ancient Greek πρόσωπον (prósōpon – face, appearance, mask) or possibly from the Etruscan word (φersu) with a similar meaning.

[https://etymologeek.com/lat/persona/39781650]

In a slightly simplistic way, it could be said that ancient Greek theater, people who wore masks took on the persona or spirits of the god or hero they impersonated. So the mask could be understood as a link to an outside spiritual force, not so much disguising the self, but in a way replacing it.

In class we talked also about the duality of collective identity, as both a giving up of the self, and an adopting of a new shared identity…

With that in mind, just have fun. Make a mask and take a picture. To upload, click on the picture block (any one of the pictures) and you will see an “upload” button for posting at the bottom of the page. In WordPress you can either upload directly, or put something in the Media Library and then link from there.