Masks have been part of our global culture for centuries. For her episode of Artsnight, ventriloquist, comedian and documentary filmmaker Nina Conti explores how masks allow us to step out of our psychological skins and be someone else.
In this clip she meets artist Mark Wardell, who explains that the masks were made from an original cast of Bowie’s face taken in the seventies to promote his film The Man who Fell to Earth. After lying unused for several decades, the cast was rediscovered by London-based artist Mark Wardel who began making replicas of Bowie’s face for fans, decorating them with designs including the classic lightning bolt look used on the cover of 1973 album Aladdin Sane.
In 2015 Bowie bought up several of Wardel’s masks, some of which were used in the V&A’s recent David Bowie Is exhibition. His attention was reportedly drawn to the items by a team he employed to monitor the art world for pieces inspired by his life.