New Wave Clowns / 2: Clowns for a Fin de Siècle Mump and Smoot… with Wog

When we think of clowns, the image we conjure has a red nose and white face. But Smoot’s face is yellow with a wide area of red around the eyes which creeps up to his “hairline,” over the bridge of his nose and down into the hollows of his cheeks. The edges of this eye mask are blended into the yellow without outlined definition. Does Smoot “see red” or do the horrors of the world make his eyes blush? This choice of clown make-up is an extension of a worldwide mask tradition which itself is worthy of detailed study. In their face makeup, Mump and Smoot carry the two traditions of European clown and West Coast Indian. The red nose signals “clown” to us but in style the face painting reads Native influence. These two traditions have been appropriated by the actors in order to create new forms which are the lifelines of their clown characters. The same holds true for their costumes.