Masks

Eli Whitney Museum

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2018 Summer Program

Make masks and learn their powers. Sure, the safety goggles you will wear in this Workshop are a mask for safety. And a bandanna is enough to mask the identity of a bandit. This Workshop will look at and through masks that make super powers and tell stories.

Construct a maquette, a model of you, 1/4 your size. Discover that a mask doesn't to have to be a thing at all: brush on paint, a clown face, or ordinary make up. Then travel back in time. Recreate the stone mask, thought to be the oldest preserved. Create a Greek actor's mask that will let your character stand out and play any role male or female. Create a north African mask with thoughtful, half-closed eyes that can spot sorcery. Create a Carnival Mask that will let all people celebrate the same. Create a red pullover mask (Does Spiderman wear a mask so that his enemies won't see when he's afraid?)

Experiment with the materials that mask makers use: wood, metal, cloth, papier maché, feathers, shells, and twigs. After your model has tried on many mini masks, construct a full size mask that suits you. End the week in an outrageous procession that you normally might be too shy to join. But then again, you will be wearing a mask.


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