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Watch me dance (2018)
Dan mask (wood), antique stereoscope, alkyd paint, porcelain, gold & copper leaf 17-38-45 cm private collection (The Netherlands) |
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Watch me dance is made using a Dan mask from Liberia. In Dan culture this bird mask has been progressively used as an entertaining mask. The process of transforming this mask was, like the others in the series, by first stripping it back to its basic wooden form, redefining its features and then building up its new persona. To emphasise this mask’s entertaining character, I chose to build in a modified antique stereoscope (resembling ancient VR glasses), through which the mask is watching a painted porcelain sculpture of a Pierrot dancing. Watch me dance bridges ancient traditions (Dan mask, Pierrot from commedia dell’arte and stereoscope) with the new world of bright, glossy pop-art colours and modern humour.
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