Monfoo and Masks

Danny, Felicia, the other Monica and I went to one of the 99 cent stores today near Santa Croce and made quite the discovery: MASKS. It sounds simple but they were really great. The angry acorn, silly sunflower, a pig that appeared to be suffering from a severe case of jaundice - all evoked mixed doses of wonder and terror, two key "qualities" of my ten or eleven chosen ink gestures / visual associations / early memory drawings from Jana's class. I discovered eventually that I have a fascination with this sort of miasmatic enigma, the mysterious and disturbing side of art. Fear and shock add points of interest. My favorite mask by far was this clear one with drawn on eyebrows and makeup so the end result is this kind of robot-transvestite metamorphosis of your actual face. I see a performance art piece on the horizon...

So what I'm currently thinking about is the evolution of how the human form has been portrayed throughout history, specifically concerning classical sculpture and contemporary mannequins and other reproductions of human facade and figure. In theory, classical sculpture is relatively immovable and unchanging; however, the human forms of today (primarily mannequins) are disposable and easily disguised, costumed, disassembled. They also have no specific identity. I guess this is what fascinates me about masks - their ability to apply readymade change to the human image. Disintegration of the value of human form and individuality through time. Humankind's continued need for self-preservation (through replication of our image) and consequentially blind self-destruction.

ok, I don't know if that made sense,

Monica Foote