Pencil Mask 1972

Rebecca Horn’s “Pencil Mask” (1972) is a striking example of her signature body-oriented performance art. The work is comprised of a black leather mask constructed with sharpened pencils protruding, which is hung on a white wall. The artist often explored themes of the body, identity, and the limits of human experience through her work, using her own body as a medium to challenge conventional notions of art and performance. Horn’s pieces are often characterized by their theatricality, symbolism, and their exploration of the relationship between the body and the object, as seen in "Pencil Mask."