When masks reveal | MIT News
A Covid-19 mask is typically seen as a form of protection. But what if our masks turned into exposure opportunities - the physical expression of our thoughts, worries, and the way we deal with the turbulence of the outside world?
This was the challenge for MIT students to design a mask that reflected individual and collective experiences during the pandemic. As part of the interdisciplinary course 4.302 (Fundamentals of Art, Design and Spatial Practices: Design and Scarcity) run by the MIT Future Heritage Lab and the MIT Art, Culture and Technology (ACT) program, the task was inspired by the world Co-MASK project initiated by the professor of the course, Azra Akšamija, a faculty member of the Faculty of Architecture. While Co-MASK focuses on designing DIY face coverings to protect against Covid-19, students were asked to envision a mask that would serve as a physical extension of the mind and body - a place of exchange and exchange of a kind to relate to a larger community.
The personal and the planetary
The Design and Scarcity course introduces theoretical and practical tools for art and design in fragile environments - an expression of the ACT ethos that emphasizes the importance of artistic methods for experimental problem solving and rigorous critical practice. This class was supported by the MIT Alumni Class Fund for undergraduate curricula and developed by Akšamija as the residential version of their MITx course Design & Scarcity, the first hands-on online art and design course at MIT.
The students interpreted the idea of fragility in different ways. While reflecting on personal isolation experiences during the pandemic, the process of designing the masks became a means of empathically connecting with contemporary global movements and shared trauma. In addressing issues such as racial discrimination, migrant exploitation, and environmental damage, the masks express the concerns that permeate the student experience and priorities as a designer. The project deals with the fragility of environments on several levels. from the personal to the political to the planet - and to the extent of the virus itself, which is also fighting for its own survival.
This wide-ranging scope reflects the efforts of the Co-MASK project, which is intended to be limitless and multilingual. "The Co-MASK drafts created by the students indicate one of the central needs that the Covid-19 pandemic has made clear for all of us," says Akšamija. "That we - humans and non-humans - come together in new ways and show solidarity with the weakest in our planetary community."
Reinterpret protection
The work of several students critically examines the issue of the protection and protection of individuals and communities.
American Dream, a mask designed by Diego Yañez-Laguna, a sophomore art and design major, addresses the plight of migrants at borders. "The aim of this mask is to show how far the experience of immigrants in the USA is from the American dream," explains Yañez-Laguna. “This message of opportunity and welcome is portrayed through visual references to the Statue of Liberty - but the corruption of these ideals is shown through the use of barbed wire, which depicts a story of mistreatment, fear of migrants, and obsession with borders and division. "
Caleb Amanfu, a fourth-year student with two majors in architecture and engineering, chose an association as the main material for his "Lakes" mask - a representation of social oppression. "This mask tries to draw attention to the feeling of being seen and not heard, while questioning the systems and societal situations that cause these experiences to persist," says Amanfu. "This mask, like the systems themselves, prevents the user from speaking and at the same time suffocates him from the problems he wants to speak out against."
For Janice Tjan, who completed a double degree in mechanical engineering and art and design in her third year, the project was an opportunity to express the experiences of homeless children during the pandemic. "Blazon Mask" was developed to bring the inside out and to offer the wearer a place where he can represent himself and show his fears. "The contrasting colors, rudimentary stitching, and scout-like badges all add to the noisy appearance and youthful demeanor," says Tjan. "These masks are made from recycled cotton (old T-shirts and bed linen), which adds to their bricolage appearance and reinforces the creative voice of the manufacturer."
Spirit and material
The students were tasked with studying the social, ecological and technological effects of certain materials - materials that also provided access to psychological expression.
Felix Li, an art and design major in his sophomore year, titled his mask “Resonant when Struck” and recalled both the materiality of porcelain and the sound of Bruch. “For as long as I can remember,” he says, “I've used the same set of cheap china bowls and plates from the Chinese supermarket. These fragile but strong ceramic vessels are a monument to my heritage, my parents and my Asian identity. The broken and scattered shape reflects the collective pain and sorrow in the AAPI Community. "
Eva Smerekanych, a sophomore architecture student, modeled her “Clean” mask out of polymer clay to illustrate how eating disorders can worsen during a period of isolation. “Fimo is a soft, waxy medium with the unique property of remaining malleable over long periods of time,” she says. “As such, this medium creates a feeling of uncertainty about the future. Will it crack? Is it warped? Bruised? Stretched? This insecurity reflects the insecurity that leads many to develop eating disorders. "
The scarcity leitmotif led many to examine the environmental cost of their chosen material, a point powerfully communicated by "Ocean Blues," a mask designed by Izzi Waitz, a sophomore architecture student. Her mask consists of 10 synthetic blue disposable masks and is reminiscent of plastic that is caught in a fishing net. "An abundance of masks, gloves, hand sanitizer bottles and other forms of Covid waste pour into our oceans and landfills," says Waitz. "These synthetic materials, with a lifespan of 450 years, pose a major threat to marine life."
Open futures
The students' masks show how an artistic environment for research and learning can augment conventional design approaches. The experimental culture promoted by ACT opens up new possibilities for dealing with current critical issues - but also creates space for personal expressions of fragility and vulnerability, feelings that can be the source of transformative creativity.
The negotiations of the project between the public and the private sector will be deepened at the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale 2021, where the masks of Akšamija and her students in the joint exhibition “Future Assembly” in the central pavilion of the Giardini. The Future Assembly is a reflection on the last 75 years of UN multilateralism and invites the Biennale to develop new approaches for effective cooperation and to imagine how future multilateralism can go beyond the human-centered worldview and become a more than human assembly.
As one of this year's exhibitors, Akšamija invited her students to present the Covid-19 virus as stakeholders in the Future Assembly. Given that the virus survives and mutates through human transmission, the shape of the mask represents protection for humans and a threat to the survival of the virus. However, the masks designed by the students also express the instinctive needs that the Pandemic made it so clear: the need for strength, inspiration and hope for the future at a time that demands resilience and ingenuity. Redefining the personal in relation to the collective, these masks reveal the central paradox of the pandemic: the virus that divides us has also revealed the fact of our infinite connection.
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