Face h/and mask

This chapter rethinks the role of the hand in relation to masks and faces. Etymologically, “face” is related to facere, “to make”. But what does it mean to say that the face is made? A long philosophical tradition disconnects face from hand, treating faces as sites of truth, expression and immediacy—set apart from the realm of fabrication. Against this tradition, can the face, too, be seen as something shaped, something formed? These questions are central to this chapter, which studies the selfie as a virtual mask mediating the face and opening new vistas for it. The face in the selfie—the “facie”—allows us to think anew the connection between hands and faces and turn to the histories, cultures, and locations in which faces are made. This chapter turns to the relationship between face, hand and mask in the selfie, as a site where subjectivity is reconfigured. The hand, an instrument of self-representation, extends, manipulates and shapes the face, ultimately altering its physical, digital and symbolic meaning. This dynamic complicates traditional accounts of the face as the seat of authenticity and selfhood, making the face into a mask-like surface, subjected to external forces, from cultural norms to technological mediation.