Masks and identities – A journey

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Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

School of Arts, Design and Architecture | Master's thesis
Location:
P1 OPINNÄYTTEET D 2018 Vernizzi de Ramos

Date

2018

Major/Subject

Mcode

Degree programme

ViCCA
Visual Culture and Contemporary Art

Language

en

Pages

132

Series

Abstract

The thesis Masks and Identities – A Journey is an invitation to the reader to go through histories and stories of masks and identities. The thesis interconnects these two themes, how they are related in the subjective and social sphere. It is a collection of personal and artists’ experiences and researches presented in a combination of notes, interviews, written texts, pictures, photos, audios and videos. This exploration into masks and identities worlds was guided by an experimental approach, it aimed to give more space to voices that usually are not listen in the traditional academy, to emphasize the subjective and personal knowledge and to offer more room to the spoken words. Nevertheless, the research also has books and academic texts references weaved into the subjective and spoken knowledge of twelve people who work with masks and my own art and experiences. After investigating my identity, face, masks and characters and interviewing artists and their characters, I could understand how faces are and are not related to my identity, how identity is flexible and relative and what is the function of masks in helping us to reach different parts of who we are. In addition, within the project I could realize the vast theme of masks and their plurality, as masks exist since Prehistory, still in use in several places, cultures and appropriated for different purposes. This journey can be taken by reading the printed copy of thesis or going to the website https://paoladeramos.wixsite.com/masksidentities. I chose a virtual platform because then the thesis can be an open source for everyone and anywhere. Also, I believe this platform is more suitable for the videos and audios because they are the most important part of the research. In conclusion, the thesis is a call to get lost in the sea of possibilities that masks can open up, to be free in relation to our identities and bodies. It is a starting point of self-reflection and not a closed result.

Description

Supervisor

Ryynänen, Max

Thesis advisor

not applicable, not applicable

Keywords

mask, identity, performance art, exploration, sculpture, face

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Citation