This new piece, Mask for Harlequins, is meant to represent someone who "proves" their worth by criticizing, blaming or shifting attention to those around them. A harlequin, as defined by the Free Online Dictionary, is "A conventional buffoon or a clown." and so this "mask" for harlequins is not part of the costume...it's meant to distract from their reality as a buffoon or clown.
The idea is that someone, (a harlequin, a clown) pretends that they are not a buffoon by distracting from their own inadequacies. They put on this mask (the colors meant to represent a variety of distractions) not so that we see how great they are, but so that, through the various distractions, we are led to pay attention to other things. Instead of displaying intelligence, they point to someone who more obviously displayed stupidity. Instead of showing us the right direction, they blame others for taking us the wrong way. Instead of proving worth, they simply show how others are proven worthless.
Mask for Harlequins is not a mask a harlequin wears for the act, as you may have thought...It's meant to be a mask they would use to distract from their reality as a buffoon...to deflect laughter from their actual short-comings to those of the people around them...
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