25 Masque

In the spring of 2020 an avalanche of very funny videos came our way, as an outpouring of collective and febrile gifts to each other in uncertain times. Some we got many times. I have my favourites. 

Slouching vicariously on Zoom and Teams our meetings were humanised with these… and Snapchat filters… pig noses, bunny ears, weird glitterati eyebrows and unicorns softened embarrassment at our arrival in a future sooner than we thought was possible. That is if we were brave enough to switch our cameras on. It seems to have calmed down a bit now. 

 

I’ve gathered together a few more powerful and visceral masks I have visited over the years here

Apart from Center Pompidou (best museum in the world) there are a few amazing ethnographic spaces in Paris, the small almost invisible https://www.chassenature.org/en, and a large almost equally invisible https://www.quaibranly.fr/en/ hard to find because of the glare from its neighbour, La Tour Eiffel.

Our faces are masks in any case. They are eagerly altered and to great effect, look at how many beauticians and hairdressers we have lining the high street. Skin itself has its own idea too, giving us away with blush, twitch and pallor. And don’t get me started on selfies https://bit.ly/36pc4r2

 

https://www.gq.com/story/blue-steel-zoolander-selfie-culture

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyes_Without_a_Face

of course, not forgetting the old pareidolia

https://porty.net/st-kilda/levenish.html