The barn

The louche naked man with the COCK mask sits in the corner and realises little can be done to influence the others in the barn, in the House of Masks. Either the masks have been chosen to match with the character of the person or the person is choosing to behave in the character of the mask. It does not matter if they think they are a fox or if they are acting the role of the fox. It makes no difference in this simplified world: treat the person as if they were the mask. And let them behave the way they want or choose.

The louche naked man with the COCK mask climbs up to a storage space, sitting on the edge, legs dangling down, observing the whole of the barn and wondering again about their nudity. Everyone seems to have forgotten their naked bodies. The body is a beacon broadcasting emotional reactions and responses. Everyone knows the signs of arousal, or embarrassment or happiness. Everyone can read boldness, or shyness, or fear in the physical movement. Everyone knows the physical signs of adrenaline, dopamine, serotonin, the manifestations clothed society has worked so hard to disguise. Yet here there seems to be a tacit agreement to ignore these bodily windows to the emotions. How strange. It is like everyone is clinging to a time before they came here, why do they not live in the moment?

The louche naked man with the COCK mask's first clear and distinct memory is entering the House of Masks. It is the same with everyone, though, there, no one knows other's experience, no one can communicate their experience, all people can do is live as they choose. It is the strange trick of the House of Masks. The visitor and guests do not actually forget their past, but the connections and links between the memories become fuzzy. And because everything in the House of Masks is new, from the setting to the methods of interaction, there is no need to recall memories, such as the faces of people they know. However, everything is built on their past: the choices the visitors and guests make, their behaviour, their strategies, their responses are all deeply rooted in who they were before coming to the House of Masks. It is a bit like a child’s personality develops before they are five, yet how much does an adult remember of life before five. Those memories are more likely to be stories told to the child much later in their life.

The louche naked man with the COCK mask knows all of this but would find it difficult to express .

The louche naked man with the COCK mask is calm, enjoying the barn from the loft space which has been used for performances from time to time, a place where friends gathered to play music, a place which had been home to an amateur drama society.

The tannoy declares: GATHER ROUND, GATHER ROUND, IT IS TIME FOR THE FOX AND THE GRAPES.

The louche naked man with the COCK mask sits on the edge of the loft.

YAWN GREAT