CPS Week 3 - Found Object

In response to this week's theme of Found Objects I focussed on my face mask and the social significance of face masks in 2021. After months of Covid lockdown face masks have been instrumental in allowing us to be free again and return to a state of relative normalcy.

To express this I created a short looping animation of a person jumping up and down on a trampoline made from a giant mask, surrounded by nature. The mask is propelling the person upwards, and supporting them in their joy and freedom. It's a safety net that's reliable, but in the corner of the frame is the persistent threat of a steep cliff face. There's always a chance for us to fall and slip back into quarantine.

Face mask imagery has been widely adopted since the outbreak of Covid-19 to remix well known works of art, including the Mona Lisa and the Wall Street Bull sculpture. There is a specific sculptural work, 'A Face Mask Kiss' by Johnson Tang (pictured), which for me holds similar connotations and themes to my work, depicting both the seperation and tragic isolation brought on by this pandemic, and the unifying power of the face mask.