mask(s)
yale paprika vol. ii, 07
with james coleman + sam zeif
2017
...exploring the multiplicitous possibilities of mask(ing)
as an architectural concept, led by conversations with
peter eisenman, keller easterling, and elihu rubin.
Masks seem to carry a sinister connotation. Indelibly attached to the mythic, the criminal, the anonymous, and unsettlingly detached from reality, masks are the fictive figures and the activating forms of our increasingly opaque environment.
/ But can this opacity disassociate architecture from serving power structures, and in turn, empower the public? (Peter Eisenman)
/ Might the mask be a tool for enabling the architect-as-actor to infiltrate existing networks of power? (Keller Easterling)
/ Should we embrace the mask as an authentic expression in-and-of itself? (Elihu Rubin)
For this edition of Paprika, we are interested in the myriad relationships between masked and unmasked, truth and the lie, form and simulacrum, obfuscated identity and uncanny double, and their consequences within the discourse of architecture.