The Mask Project
Artist StatementThis mask is an expression of how media has shaded me from the things that have gone on around me. I think about doing something, maybe making people more aware of these things that I believe in, but it’s just a thought, among many, I never actually go through with it. Either I’m to busy or I’m afraid to put myself out into the world as an opposing opinion. This is ironic but I was scrolling through Instagram and I came across an animation of people on their phones falling off a cliff, they were unfazed. They would fall still looking at their phones not caring about what was happening around them. This is a bit unrealistic but it’s true to an extent. It’s a way to remind myself that I need to advocate for the things that I believe in and make those changes in my own life.
The process of completing my mask has a lot of stages. First, the class was partnered up and was given Plaster of Paris. We dipped it in water and applied it to our partner’s face until the mask was complete. We applied more plaster but this time it was liquid instead of a sheet. I sanded and applied more over and over again until it was smooth. Then it was time to paint. I went over it in white and then started to draw the design in pencil. After I had painted on the Instagram, Netflix, and snapchat logos I painted on the black part that represents the shadow and that became the finished product. |
Project Reflection
This project took almost a whole semester to complete. We started out with some easier essays and then eventually we moved onto the final one. When in class we watched some films about socialization including Mean Girls. In the midst of that, we took notes on the basic laws or inputs into culture and socialization. We learned about norms, taboos, subcultures, the looking glass self, etc. It was a fun experience and not quite like anything that I had experienced with the school before.
During this project, I got off task a lot. Only until the last few weeks of this project did I actually do anything. I have a tendency to procrastinate about things or wait until I truly need to do things, then I rush to finish. I feel that I definitely didn’t do my best on this and it’s most likely because of me waiting to get things done. If I had started earlier I probably could have done better. My advocacy for this project was not very good. I didn’t advocate for myself once and have not had my teacher read my essay so that he could guide me to make it better. I don’t believe that I advocated for myself or other students. At the end of this project, I think that I had a lot of perseverance but at the beginning, I didn’t. I stayed up late a lot of nights to work and refine my essay and worked non stop on it. I was starting t freak out because I thought that I wasn’t going to make the deadline but I knew that not working on it would not help me so I kept working until I finished and lucky for me I got it done just barely on time. After I finished writing my essay I had my parents and I go through it to check for errors. I think that my essay could use more work but for right now it is ok.
This project taught me to look at the world from a different perspective. I learned to be more mindful when thinking about other people and things. I have learned that it is not only the persona that a person puts off that makes them who they really are. Everyone is different from one another. It has also taught me about my own life. If I hadn’t written this essay then I wouldn’t be aware of how media really shapes my life. Now, whenever I get on Instagram io think of what my essay was supposed to mean my self. A way to ask myself if there was anything better that I could be doing.
During this project, I got off task a lot. Only until the last few weeks of this project did I actually do anything. I have a tendency to procrastinate about things or wait until I truly need to do things, then I rush to finish. I feel that I definitely didn’t do my best on this and it’s most likely because of me waiting to get things done. If I had started earlier I probably could have done better. My advocacy for this project was not very good. I didn’t advocate for myself once and have not had my teacher read my essay so that he could guide me to make it better. I don’t believe that I advocated for myself or other students. At the end of this project, I think that I had a lot of perseverance but at the beginning, I didn’t. I stayed up late a lot of nights to work and refine my essay and worked non stop on it. I was starting t freak out because I thought that I wasn’t going to make the deadline but I knew that not working on it would not help me so I kept working until I finished and lucky for me I got it done just barely on time. After I finished writing my essay I had my parents and I go through it to check for errors. I think that my essay could use more work but for right now it is ok.
This project taught me to look at the world from a different perspective. I learned to be more mindful when thinking about other people and things. I have learned that it is not only the persona that a person puts off that makes them who they really are. Everyone is different from one another. It has also taught me about my own life. If I hadn’t written this essay then I wouldn’t be aware of how media really shapes my life. Now, whenever I get on Instagram io think of what my essay was supposed to mean my self. A way to ask myself if there was anything better that I could be doing.