The catastrophe of the face: ethics, deconstruction, plasticity

In this paper, I discuss what I call the ‘catastrophe of the face’. I use the plays of Samuel Beckett, as well as deconstructive theories from Jacques Derrida, Emmanuel Levinas and Catherine Malabou, as a lens through which to see contemporary issues about the face. Arguing that the face is marked by plasticity, I trace a double-movement of the face, of disappearance-in-appearance in facial recognition software and appearance-in-disappearance in the usage of face masks during Covid pandemic.