Surface tension
(2020-2023)
Grzegorz Bukalski
We cannot see our face unless we look in the mirror, and even then the sight of it is a mediated image, just like our face in the eyes of another person. This paradox is clearly reflected in our human search for our own identity. For the same reason, the face has a special meaning in the humanities: exposed, it means authenticity. Covered, it is an expression of a certain creation, which is symbolically expressed by a m̵̼͔̥̒ă̶̼͇̐͝s̷̠̦̫̅̓k̵͙̜̹̋̅͘ and costume that allows one to assume any identity.
As the eminent mythographer Karl Kerényi (1897-1973) once put it, the ḿ̶̻͝ä̵̹̦͎́͗̉̚s̸͎͔͒k̷̡͉͌̿͛̋͝ͅ is "an instrument of unifying transformation." Thanks to it, our body is able to evolve from a purely material form to a phantasmal form, which is a metaphorical attempt to find its own identity. On the one hand, the m̸̖̏͜a̸̧͒̀ś̷̰̞k̸̮̺͑͋ covers our, as some say, authentic face, but at the same time it reveals and liberates the true nature of its wearer, which in everyday life remains hidden under the cloak of social norms.
I wonder, then, what authenticity is? Why do we associate it with not wearing a m̴̨̨̯̪̝̞͉̠͙̟̟͖̗͇͚͖͉̻͍̝͙̥͕͈̻̆̾̋̽̔͊͛̒̍̈̄̑͗͐̈́̆̄̀͂͌͊͂̀͟͡͠a̶̡̛̘̤͓̠̭̝̝͕̝̟̻͇͂͆̒̈̊̑̆̈̈́̍͐͗̈́̑͛͐́̆̐͝ͅs̵̨̧̲̜͖̪͕̖̬̘̤̥͓̻̩̗͍̞̱̳̥͗͐͛̓̄͑́̒͜͝ͅk̶̨͎̙̜͚͙̔? If we stripped away every ḿ̴͕̄͒̑a̵̤̓̄̎̾͐̾̐͌͂͐͂͝͡ṡ̴̡̢̮͔͔̠̦̱̪͇̦͕̠̭̝̅͐͐́̀̔̏̚̕k̷̡̢̨̲͇̙̺̥̩̣̬͈͊͋̉̓̈́̈́̏̒̆̽̑͝͡͝ͅ, wouldn't we simply become animals doomed to live based on primal instincts? By visiting communities that freely use m̶͕̱̫̭͟͠ã̸̡͎͍͖͜͡ś̷̪͎̜̫͎̀̂̀k̶̪̣͛̏̓s̶͉͈̙̭̥͒̂̿͛, I explore the thin line between truth and fiction where the high tension between these two variables became a great point of interest for me.
