This designed Instagram filter allows the user to tap through various masks. From the surgical mask and face shield popularized during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, to various mask forms used in protests across the Americas, the user will be able to sort through them and choose one to take a picture with, if desired. What does a mask cover, protect or reveal? With this work, Salcedo inserts the human face into a dual dynamic between the individual anonymity provided by the mask and the collective identity provided by the type of mask selected. Voicing diverse protest messages, the mask as a socio-political identity signifier, becomes a wearable site for disruption in the public realm. With the filter format, Salcedo extends the protest to cyberspace turning the most playful feature of Instagram into a tool of political action.
