The art of mask is the art of creating a character that one can become. This identification, permitted by one or several accessories, is often taking place during a performance combining danse, music and sculpture. The mask culture is universal. In Europe, many traditions including masks are still alive, like the carnival in Venise or Bâle. Likewise, masks holds an important place in contemporary art.
The symbolic of the mask varies from one culture to another, from sacred in Africa to satirical in Commedia dell’arte and component of the catharsis in Greek theatre.
Therefore what is the place of the mask in the imagination of the contemporary man?



mask project

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is characterized by the outbreak of intrusive thoughts occurring against the will of the subject. These thoughts are associated with rituals in order for the patient to be able to reduce his anxiety.

The subject feels compelled to follow a repetitive behaviour or a mental act with strict rules. These flashes of madness, which overwhelm the subject’s reason make him switch instantly from self control to machine-like automatism.

These rituals are series of gestures recognised as irrational, but nevertheless repeated in an invasive way, like a personal mysticism.

Each culture has its own way of answering to the same fundamental questions: how to deal with the future, with conflicts, with power?

This series features a comparison between our society and traditional African societies through the juxtapositioning of different approaches to similar issues. These juxtapositions can sometimes lead to the outlining of differences linked to environment or to thinking patterns. However, at times the proximity of these differing cultures is surprisingly evident.

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Arnaud Iprex