GOLDEN MASKS, September 2013
This project explores connections between personal experience and the place in which we live. After discussing the role gold played in the history of New Mexico, students were asked to consider what is "golden" (but perhaps not immediately apparent) about themselves. Each student then designed a mask that visually represented this "golden" part of themselves. We decorated masks with materials specific to our community: beans, gatherings from the bosque, and "gold."
A critical part of this project was discussing the many uses of masks around the world and considering the history and controversies associated with buying, selling, and appropriating artifacts from different cultures (such as the Picasso and Africa exhibition and the more recent auctions of Hopi and Zuni artifacts in Paris).
See images and descriptions below (7A top, 7B bottom):
This project explores connections between personal experience and the place in which we live. After discussing the role gold played in the history of New Mexico, students were asked to consider what is "golden" (but perhaps not immediately apparent) about themselves. Each student then designed a mask that visually represented this "golden" part of themselves. We decorated masks with materials specific to our community: beans, gatherings from the bosque, and "gold."
A critical part of this project was discussing the many uses of masks around the world and considering the history and controversies associated with buying, selling, and appropriating artifacts from different cultures (such as the Picasso and Africa exhibition and the more recent auctions of Hopi and Zuni artifacts in Paris).
See images and descriptions below (7A top, 7B bottom):
"My golden thing is my mouth. I open my mouth and say whats on my mind." (Makayla, 7A)
"I am very observant, and perceptive. [To represent this] I made a unblinking reptilian eye." (Spencer, 7A)
"I like to take photographs so I have to see the world in a different way and notice details. [To represent this] my mask has big eyes outlined with a lot of beans." (Vera, 7A)
"The golden thing I represented in my mask was my imagination. Sometimes I just get a bit bored of reality, and want more."
(Adam, 7B)
"In my mask, I attempted to represent the fact that I am a good writer and that I am very creative, and also that I am embracing of almost everyone." (Esther, 7B)
"The golden thing that I tried to show on my mask was that I am really good at looking and listening. And that I love soccer."
(Jackson, 7B)