Introduction to Jan Rapp's "Mask Making" Professional Practice at the Cape Cod Accademy

  Jan Rapp is here to speak with us about Masks.  Masks can be found as artifacts in all the corners of the globe and have been used for a variety of purposes.  They are used to this day for a variety of purposes.  In a few days time we will see the streets lined with Captain Americas, zombies, infants dressed as pumpkins, Fortnite characters, Disney Princesses, Harry Potters, Hulks, little Batmen and Jokers.  

The purpose of a mask is to hide one's identity to take on the identity of another.  This experience, however, means that two identities are being represented in one body, that of the mask wearer and the illustration of the spirit or identity the mask represents.  For example, in the 1994 Jim Carey classic the Mask, Stanley Ipkiss, a timid man experiencing a losing streak, puts on an ancient mask that contains the spirit of the Norse trickster Loki.  By changing his face, Ipkiss is empowered by Loki and transforms into a supernatural Cassanova with a vibe similar to Bugs Bunny.  He is charming and confident, funny and extroverted.  The Mask changes his life.  

So it was In 1890, the Ghost Dance ceremony was incorporated into numerous indigenous American belief systems. The ceremony as it spread through the Indigenous American world, involved elaborate costumes and masks.  According to its originator, the spiritual leader Wovoka, the dance would reunite the living with the spirits of the dead who would help the living fight westward colonial expansion and bring peace, prosperity and unity to the Indigenous peoples of the region.  The ceremony was first practiced by the Northern Paiute people of Nevada in 1889. The practice was adopted quickly in the western United States from Oklahoma to California.  Different tribes would put their own spin on the practice and emphasize select aspects of the ritual.  The Ghost Dance is still practiced today by the Caddo people of Oklahoma.  The Ghost Dance has been accredited by Lakota Sioux elders for influencing their resistance towards colonization and environmental destruction in their lands.  

So in both our western colonial world as well as in the natural spiritual world of the historical indigenous American, the mask can reanimate our individual or culture’s damaged hearts.  It is a rare moment in which all entities can assemble as one; by taking on the personality of another, our own Egos are damaged in the process as we must sacrifice an element of our individuality in order to take on the form of another.  This ego death is perhaps why we love Halloween so much; we let go of our socially constructed identities for an evening to connect with the spirits of others.  How ironic that such a “spooky” holiday can also bring us closer together through mutual affection for spirits.  

This is merely my introduction to Jan Rapp’s Mask Making Proffesional Practice.  Rapp is an art educator that needs not to wear a mask as she is a spirit, a legend, on her own right.  A quick google search of her name will let you know she’s been in this art teaching game for well over a decade and her art practice is invested and interested in the natural world.  She is also a “behind the scenes” member of our non-proit whose efforts consistently go unsung.

Until tonight.  Please welcome the one and only Jan Rapp, a spirit whose heart burns like a furnace, a woman with no need for a mask.  

Hasta la Victoria Siempre,

Jack Turnbull