The Masquerade

The mask, the wearing of a disguise, dressing up and role-playing have direct linkages with Second Life – the avatar being a digital guise of the human operator in the virtual world.

“The sight of the masked figure, as a purely aesthetic experience, carries us beyond ‘ordinary life’ into a world where something other than daylight reigns; it carries us back to the world of the savage, the child and the poet, which is the world of play”

The mask ostensibly liberates from social constraints.  The world of play, as described by J.Huizinga in his seminal study of the play-element in culture – Homo Ludens, is an ephemeral and provisional state of being which one distinctly recognizes as non-serious and distinctly other than ‘ordinary life’:

“We found that the most important characteristics of play was its spatial separation from ordinary life.  A closed space is marked out for it, either materially or ideally, hedged off from the everyday surroundings.  Inside this space the play proceeds, inside it the rule obtain.  Now, the marking out of some sacred spot is also the primary characteristic of every sacred act.  This requirement of isolation for ritual […] is much more than merely spatial and temporal.”

Typically play is considered the direct polar of seriousness, however this contrast is neither conclusive nor fixed, play can be very serious indeed.  Competitive games or sport are played in profound seriousness, as is gambling, politics or art – each of which possess distinct forms of play yet are often considered the epitome of seriousness.

The mask and the uniform represent mirrored ideals.  The mask offers a brief compensation for the decency and prudence that must ordinarily be observed.  It has long been associated with erotic fetes and conspiracies – disturbing and trilling yet at the same time assures anonymity, protects and liberates.  It symbolises the means and often the announced decision to violate these taboos.  The uniform alternatively is a disguise that signifies authority.  It is official, regulated and in leaving the face exposed the individual becomes a representative and a servant of an impartial and immutable rule.

The afore mentioned association of masks with erotic fetes and conspiracy pertains to air of secrecy in play which most vividly expressed in ‘dressing up’.  Here the extraordinary nature of play reaches perfection.  The disguised/masked individual ‘plays’ another part, another being. He is another being.

On developing a programme for the activities to take place within Cedric Price’s ‘The Fun Palace’, the ‘Ideas Committee’ suggested methods inducing of identity-shifts and role-play.  An ‘Identity Bar’ was proposed which would dispense paper clothing, enabling people to adopt different and unfamiliar social and gender roles.  This was expressed as a need to provide “physical and emotional thrills for satisfying the individual’s desire to exhibit himself and to extend his sense of power and feel the sensation of sinking into a group.” 

This juxtaposes a the sense of anonymity, induced through role-play, with the establishment of a community and intends to liberate the individual of his inhibitions, and thus reinforce this community.