Larcher had the eight emoticons carved as masks in the traditional way, linking signs and rituals that - actually - could not be more different. And yet there is a common link: the reference to the mask as a symbol for the loss of the (natural) face.Hans Belting noted in his book Faces. A History of the Face, Hans Belting noted in his book Faces. A History of the Face an endless consumption of "faces" in today's media society, "which it produces itself". Media faces have displaced the natural face in the public sphere, the audience is served with "facial clichés" that have become detached from the bond with the living body, Belting said. Faces, bodies today hold certain roles, are in themselves masklike. In Larcher's video, which emerged from the face2face project, employees of the one world foundation motionlessly wear the carved emoji masks. They are somewhat reminiscent of August Sander's 20th Century People, photographic portraits of people from the 1920s that foreground their respective professional roles and social status. But their faces, their identities are involved in a double game: they are erased by the mask, the emoji face completely removed from cultural or social context has taken their place.

Historicity, such as Sri Lanka's colonial history, also seems to have been made invisible in equal measure. And yet their carved masks represent testimonies. They are tangible, analogue tools to banish the evil spirits of the digital world.

text by Ines Gebetsroither