ABSTRACT
What is the face? The face, as unique, physical, malleable and public, is the prime symbol of the self. It is unique, for no two faces are identical, and it is in the face that we recognize each other, and identify ourselves. Our faces are pictured in our passports and identification papers. The face is physical, and therefore personal, yet it is also ‘made up’, ‘put on’ and subject to fashion. It is public, but also intensely private and intimate. And it is malleable; with its 80 mimetic muscles, the face is capable of over 7,000 expressions.
