Air We Wear | Oil Spill Mexico Mask by May Bar Levav

Body piece / Kitsch Conceptual OnBody

Industrial Knitting and 3D Printing.

May Bar Levav's work was created in response to the increasing air pollution and the corona pandemic, as well as the single-use products produced in this context. She complains that these products are not sustainable and that they are made from environmentally harmful plastic materials. For a long time, the mask was reserved for certain professional groups or was worn for religious reasons, but it has now become a general obligation. May Bar Levav hopes that even after the pandemic, the masks will continue to be worn as a preventive measure. It was her concern to use in her masks natural materials that are sustainably produced, as such materials are healthier for the body and facial skin, which are also protected by the mask. She combines three-dimensional structures for mouth and nose protection with textiles, in which filters can be inserted and renewed. The choice of filters is made according to different protection levels. The filters come from the New Zealand company "LANACO", which produces filters from natural sheep's wool. The textile frames of the masks were machine-knitted with knitting structures that were developed in such a way that no residues remained during production. The filter holders, in turn, were printed with 3D-printers. May Bar Levav is of the opinion that by wearing a mask and the associated large-scale covering of the face, new forms of communication must be found. The unusual, colourful masks represent an extremely individual position, which alone provides an incentive for communication.