The Venetian mask is synonymous with Venice. Known as being an important part of the autumnal festival, tourists flock from around the world to see the face plates decorated to a high standard. Historically the Venetian nobility would wear these masks for a good majority of the year when out in public, allowing them to commit a variety of lewd and anonymous acts. Some men would wear ones like the cranium of a humpback, allowing them to eat and drink. Others involved holding a paddle in the mouth in order to support the mask, rendering its wearer mute. Wearing masks was outlawed in the 18th century but was legalised in the seventies again, leading to a booming economy to the city built on a marsh. The mask is seen throughout history to grant its wearer a costume for the face. As humans express themselves through the musculature wrapped around the oculars, wearing a mask allows one to change their identity, be it for theatrical purpose or to evade identification. A masked person finds it easier to commit violence than an unmasked one. Hiding the face is common in military and religious subcultures around the world, but once features are applied to this covering the user can empathise more with the face they are wearing. For instance, in a werewolf film the actor may wear a facial prosthesis in order to appear werewolfian. Yet if one was to see through the mask, the actor would be pulling a strange expression (as would anyone acting like a monster whilst wearing a mask). The sorts of expressions are unseen in our day to day social interactions, but nevertheless have the potential to occur almost constantly.
In contemporary times the mask is linked with the party protest subculture ‘Anonymous’. People aged between 11-56 occasionally don a ‘Guido’ mask from the film ‘V is for Vendetta’ and pose for photographs at various political hotspots around the world. Made popular through the internet messaging board ‘4chan’, the group has hacked government e-mail accounts, leaked sensitive data encryption keys from the UNEFCA and helped bring down Colonel Bombay. The mask itself is a sort of ironic twist on the appearance of Al-Qaeda terror suspects, with wearers often accompanying the mask with a comfortable set of clothing and perhaps a placard covered in slogans, size 18 Impact font. These middle-class yobos often can be seen petrol bombing police horses or doing drive-by attacks from hi-jacked aeroplanes. This is the exact same reason people wore masks in Venice and will go on to follow the destiny that lurks in history, the banning of masks. Though this time it will be for every mask. The world will have no more masks left to wear.
This itself may not be as bad as it seems. Are we entering a world post public? I’m talking digital communications. Nerds are trend setters due to their close proximity to high technology, and if there’s anything we know about nerds is that they don’t leave the house.
“Mom! Bring me some fuckin’ Doritos!”
Yet there is still the need to be anonymous. In the early days it could be argued the internet itself was a mask for a user, allowing anyone to read or write whatever they wanted. But the internet of 99 is different to the one of 14. Nowadays you can't even find out the weather without logging into your bbc account that's linked up to your Nintendo Passport. The opposite of anonymity is fame, recognition. We're entering new private. A fridge that knows your birthday. A tie that helps you diet. A bong that has lights on it. Smear tech smart walls that watch your children and broadcast your thoughts to the government. Your car can fall in love with you. It will be harder and harder for one to do anything without being conscious that you're being watched before it's even been seen.
"Am I making this sandwich in a cool, awesome way?"
"Heh, that was funny. Just need to write it down."
"I'm going to learn the ukulele."
All the world's literally now a stage, rather than a metaphoric one. This is where people will start wearing masks even more because why not, what if you just wore a mask of a person and stood around, watching the sun rise? Gazing at the gap, between two stones, on the floor, at the intersection, of imagined lines. The axioms of living, the neural cartesia welded in place through action. The ego will being to boil and split away from the consciousness like a molten bin liner. People will wear masks more in the future because internet.
