Times of need: gas masks as an artistic medium

Recent trouble in Venezuela and across the globe have brought to light two things in particular, the need for gas mask protection in modern society, and the creativity that mankind has embedded deeply into his soul.

This has never been brought to light more truly than recently in  New Yorker article  written on Venezuela, where, it is reported that "things are grim and are dissolving daily".  That doesn't mean however, that the citizens of Venezuela are not finding the time to express their creativity as they strive to protect their lungs and respiratory system from the harms of toxic gas.

As the New Yorker reports, the variety of gas masks being used by the public is startling, with some being compared to "Storm Troopers", while others are said to resemble "Whimsical Connivers", (Guy Fawkes faces being presented as an example). 

The gas masks of the Venezuela protests are said to be so diverse and interesting that photographers have even created their own sub-class of art, their own personal genre in the collecting and distributing of gas mask photography of Venezuela. They range from the bare essential to the very elaborate as far as the homemade ones go, though it is not report how prolific the use of industrial strength, factory made masks are. Considering the fact that this is Venezuela, they are probably not as readily available as they are in other places, nor as affordable for that matter.