Lucha Libre: Visualising behind the mask

Lucha Libre has played an important role in Mexican culture since the late 1950s. At its early stage, wrestling from the United States and the French “Catch as Catch Can” blended within popular Mexican culture absorbing its social, political and mythical idiosyncrasy evolving later into what it would be known as Lucha Libre. This sport has become famous mainly due to its masked wrestlers which embed their family traditions, beliefs and fears into the design of their masks, allowing them to transform a regular person into a fearless character.The objective of this project is to analyse and present how the visual elements within the masks are created and how they evolve through time. Utilising several visual communication methods I have been able to explore the ideas and processes behind the characters creation and its evolution inside the Lucha Libre media. This has been done through the implementation of diverse technologies which enables any user to be submerged into the world of Lucha Libre and witness that experience. Through the next interactive exhibitions, this project offers a mixture of visualisation, technology and social theory, looking to understand the anthropological complexity behind the design of the masks inside the Lucha Libre world.