Plague Mask

Leather plage mask, colored cotton, artificial plants, pine cone

40 x 5 x 25 cm

The plague mask was originally from Medieval Europe, and now it is a symbol of the plague and diseases. However, it also represents the doctors since doctors in Black Death period were wearing such masks (filled with plants and flowers) to fight the plague. The explosion of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China teaches human a lesson about respecting the nature. Also, it illustrates the noble virtue of the doctors, who bravely stand in the front of the people to against the unknown virus’ attack. In this work, I visualized this “battle” by inviting three of my friends to wear gloves and medical masks for representing doctors and having a tug-of-war with the viruses. In this project, the black acrylic represents the disease, and it could be spread by touching or close interactions among people. (This is why I asked my friends to wear the recyclable white shirt that is “stained” by the black acrylic).