Sound Masks - an immersive experience of personal transformation
The Sound Masks workshop is an immersive experience of personal transformation. The symbolic language of masks is a form of poetry in clay. In each creation, clay, water, and air dialogue shapes the void, which will be transformed by fire, leaving the imprint of the unpredictable. The fifth element that incorporates itself intangibly is sound.
Wearing the mask mediates and establishes the bridge between possible worlds. We will trace a genealogy between thousands of years of history and the present through play and collective creation.
Masks from the Ancestral World:
The activity begins with a historical and geographical introduction to the world's cultures that constructed masks in different materials — a reference and inspiration journey for the design and construction of each sound mask.
Wearing the Mask is to Mediate, to Establish the Bridge:
The mask holds sacred value as it proposes a change of identity: it disguises, hides, and/or reveals the wearer's identity. In each creation, we invite the playful transformation of the face into a mask, charged with intentions and symbolism, discovering new ways of being in the world. By incorporating sound, the mask treasures its voice, allowing us to link worlds - between the sacred and the profane. The wearer is responsible for collaborating and cooperating with the mask. The mask would only be left with its complete life force if its wearer properly attended to its performance, postures, and dance steps. When wearing the mask, one loses one's personality to acquire a new one that corresponds to the sense and meaning of the mask.
From Start to Finish:
Each participant will design their sound mask using manual construction techniques such as hand-built modeling, coils, slabs, and embossing. The invitation is to artists and creators interested in working with clay as a living material and its dialogue with the landscape. It is a technical challenge to address the creation process in 7 days, from start to finish. From kneading the ceramic paste, the personal design of each mask, its construction, the development of the sound system, surface finishes, and firing with fire. It is a creative trance where time and space merge, and what material better expresses the timelessness of art if not ceramics? It is a very individual learning experience while simultaneously absolutely collective.
Sculpture as Space:
We will work on sculptural modeling of our masks, inspired by ancient aesthetics: stylization, abstraction, and image synthesis.
Alchemy of Fire:
We transform clay into rock through the action of wood fire. All techniques employed are aimed at achieving good results with single-firing ceramics. Fire requires presence as we accompany the transformation of particles; it transmutes and awakens our internal flame.
Join us for our Ceramic Sound Mask Course
An immersive journey guided by Nómada Cerámica at Cerdeira - Home for Creativity.