Title: Truth and a Visible Lie
29cm x 20 cm / 26 cm x 17.5 cm February 17th, 2021 This artwork was meant to represent the differences between a facade at the reality. We can often find people smiling, but they may not be as credible as they seem. In reality, it's likely a facade to appear others. Over the past year, this appeared true to me for a while now. |
Artist Inspiration
My artist inspiration for this project is based on the "Comedy" and "Tragedy" masks used by David Muir. These masks still had the emotions of the actors plastered onto them. They were frequently used in Ancient Greece solely for this purpose. These masks were meant to mimic the intense emotion that would usually be worn on a person's face. Of course, while they did not represent the emotions of the actors themselves, it did represent the emotions that should of been felt with the characters. My work attempts to resemble this theme by representing a fake emotion vs an inner emotion.
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Planning Sketches
Since I was going to be wearing these masks, I had to start by getting the measurements of my face so that they were not (completely) disproportionate. After measuring with a meterstick, I found that the dimensions of my face are around 26 cm and 17.5 cm. I drew the outline for the mask to be used when the base of the masks were cut out.
The masks would be worn on the opposite side of a person's head. One mask would be on the face, while the other would be worn on the back of the head. |
The "Lie" mask would be the representation of the façade being used by the other person, almost always used to hide their true feelings, which is represented by the "truth" mask. It would be wore on the front of the head, and look considerably worse than the "truth" mask, featuring cracks in order to represent how it is made up. It would have a rigid, disproportionate smile across it. The mask would look like it is latched onto the person's face.
*Eyes would stay brown; dull. |
The "Truth" mask would be the representation of a person's true feelings, that are often hidden through the use of the "Lie" mask. The emotions depicted on the truth mask aren't usually happy, thus they would be hidden with another emotion. The "Truth" mask would be worn on the back of the head, and would look like a standard human face with a neutral or negative emotion. The mask would have the word TRUTH around the mask.
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Assuming that the cardboard would be difficult to bend, multiple pieces would be used rather than attempting to use larger bent pieces. These layers can tie into the theme of the artwork by presenting itself as multiple visible layers on the mask. The mask would primarily be made up of the base layers, some layers that represent the forehead, and some layers that would represent the nose. As layers are stacked upon one another, they would become progressively smaller until the dimensions are reasonable.
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Process and Experimentation
To begin the masks, I started by making an outline on the cardboard using the measurements I had taken during my planning phase. Since I was intentionally making the "Lie" mask look inaccurate, I made the mask a little larger compared to the "Truth" mask, but not to a very noticeable degree. When the foundation of the masks were cut out, I started by cutting cracks into the "Lie" mask to resemble how fragile it is. Afterwards, I began working on the side of the mask. These would be similar to tentacles that would appear as though they are forcing the "Lie" mask onto the wearer. To further expand upon the idea of the mask being a fraud, I wanted to intentionally make this mask look worse than the "Truth" mask. Therefore, the noise and upper portion of the mask was represented by a thin, small piece of cardboard placed in the center of the mask. The eyes were the same color as the rest of the mask, leaving it dull, similar to the emotion shown on it. The teeth shown are also dull colored, as though the entire thing would be clearly fake. I was considering making the "Lie" mask look similar to how the "truth" mask looks currently, so that the mask is capable of expressing the emotion to a low degree, rather than blending in entirely with the foundation of the mask.
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The "Truth" mask was going to be made to resemble the average human face, therefore while it looked a little better, it wouldn't have as many extra details compared to the lie mask. Also, compared to the lie mask, the "Truth" mask would be the primary emphasis of the project, as well as the most difficult. In order to make the mask look thicker than it actually was, brown paper bags were used to outline the foundation of the mask.
Now, the largest trial of this project is definitely the nose, with the facial structure of the mask being an issue overall. Being limited to glue, I found it hard to keep individual pieces of cardboard stuck together as well as on the mask. While hot glue would of likely been an effective solution, none was available at the time of creation, especially due to the lack of a hot glue gun. Therefore, I was restricted to standard glue. Despite this, I did manage to get some resemblance of a nose onto the mask, although it is currently in a fragile state. After creating the structure of the nose however, I realized that I may be able to use brown paper bags in conjunction with the glue in order to connect the pieces, in a similar way that tape would. |
When I began remaking the truth mask, I wanted to reconsider how I could make it to better fit my theme of hidden emotion. So I then came up with the idea to make up the masks out of multiple layers. Not only would this help me create a more stable mask, but this helps fit into my theme, as there can be multiple layers of emotions that hide behind the "Lie" mask. This did result in a more accurate mask, although I feel as though I could have expanded upon it more. Towards the end, I tried to cover up some of the layers, in a way to represent how they can fuse into a singular, larger emotion.
This mask is far more stable compared to the last version of the mask, as all of them were able to be glued together without any excessive bending or small surface areas. |
Reflection
Overall, this was one of my more bumpy projects, as I had little experience making 3d models out of cardboard. My planning did not accommodate for the limitations that come with only using glue. The results were not of my satisfaction, which made me want to recreate the masks using a different method, as well as including more details and substance to the project itself. Not only did the masks struggle with representing the intended emotion, but they were also extremely fragile, as shown in my experimentation and process. In fact some parts of the mask fell off completely after the pictures were taken. I feel like I could do better making more use of the brown paper bags I have, as they can help with the stability of the mask. I feel as though if the masks were more stable, I could expand upon the dimensions of the masks, making the "Truth" mask look more like a standard face, and the "Lie" mask better at representing false happiness. After reviewing the results, I wanted to attempt to remake these masks and place the revisions on this page.
Compare and Contrast
Compare
- In Ancient Greece, these masks were worn to help resemble the emotion of the characters within plays. A similar attempt is made here.
- There are strong contrasts between the masks. They are meant to vaguely resemble a positive or negative emotion
- There are strong contrasts between the masks. They are meant to vaguely resemble a positive or negative emotion
Contrast
- The masks are made to be worn as a pair. These are supposed to resemble a person's emotions that they show vs what they may feel. A mask is meant to be worn on the face and on the back of the head.
- The masks vary in quality. Unlike the inspiration, these masks are visibly different in their visual design. One looks to be a little more genuine, while the other appears to be more fragile and fraudulent.
- The masks are created through layers. Although the "Lie" mask has especially few pieces, it still made of multiple in order to form its "happy" look. The "Truth" mask is visible made of multiple layers in order to form the dimensions of a face.
- The masks vary in quality. Unlike the inspiration, these masks are visibly different in their visual design. One looks to be a little more genuine, while the other appears to be more fragile and fraudulent.
- The masks are created through layers. Although the "Lie" mask has especially few pieces, it still made of multiple in order to form its "happy" look. The "Truth" mask is visible made of multiple layers in order to form the dimensions of a face.
ACT Questions
1) Clearly explain and describe how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
Since these masks represented vague emotions, I wanted to expand upon them by adding details that differentiate between the two. Because I wanted to make these masks look different from one another, I intentionally deterred the design from making them look similar.
2) What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
These masks were made to represent two vague emotions on characters. It added an extra layer to what some could consider 2-Dimensional emotions within a play.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I made the generalization that most emotions are usually not presented right away. While it's true that actual emotions are presented often, that does not mean they are always clearly or outright shown. I made the conclusion that some people hide their actual emotions rather than showing them to avoid confrontation.
4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
My theme around my research often related to emotions. Particularly the different between the presentation of a positive emotion and a negative emotion. I wanted to represent these 2 categories in masks that could clearly be differentiated between.
5) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
I made the inference that instead of wearing the masks individually, I thought it would be better to represent the two emotions together; albeit in a fashion where the viewers can only directly see one mask at a time. They can take in the meaning of one mask as well as the other, and take note of how they're being worn. It helps communicate my theme by "talking" with one mask and hiding the other.
Since these masks represented vague emotions, I wanted to expand upon them by adding details that differentiate between the two. Because I wanted to make these masks look different from one another, I intentionally deterred the design from making them look similar.
2) What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
These masks were made to represent two vague emotions on characters. It added an extra layer to what some could consider 2-Dimensional emotions within a play.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I made the generalization that most emotions are usually not presented right away. While it's true that actual emotions are presented often, that does not mean they are always clearly or outright shown. I made the conclusion that some people hide their actual emotions rather than showing them to avoid confrontation.
4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
My theme around my research often related to emotions. Particularly the different between the presentation of a positive emotion and a negative emotion. I wanted to represent these 2 categories in masks that could clearly be differentiated between.
5) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
I made the inference that instead of wearing the masks individually, I thought it would be better to represent the two emotions together; albeit in a fashion where the viewers can only directly see one mask at a time. They can take in the meaning of one mask as well as the other, and take note of how they're being worn. It helps communicate my theme by "talking" with one mask and hiding the other.
Bibliography
Golden comedy and TRAGEDY masks on by David MUIR. (n.d.). Retrieved February 26, 2021, from https://photos.com/featured/golden-comedy-and-tragedy-masks-on-david-muir.html