Maskenfreiheit: freedom of wearing a mask.
I wrote the text in this video in around 2017-2018, so it was written well before the pandemic and the prevalence of medical masks. I tried multiple times to film this, but could never be happy with the footage. When I went on a deaf artists’ retreat in August 2021, I decided that this would be my project, and I’m so excited this is finally done! Thank you to everyone who participated in this video, I couldn’t have made this without y’all.
Maskenfreiheit (text)
Masks. What are they? A way to conceal your identity? Staying anonymous? Conformity to mainstream society? Well… That’s how most people perceive masks anyway. But… What if it was something else? What if we were to look at it differently? Maskenfreiheit: freedom that comes with wearing masks. What if…masks were a way for us to be someone we never could be? A way to meet people we never would otherwise? Freedom to test out things and learn about ourselves in a way that we couldn’t otherwise? You decide. What are masks? Anonymity, conformity, hiding who you are? Or freedom, experimentation, learning about the world? What are they? Masks.