Maskmaking

Stories and informational videos

4 artists create contemporary interpretations of traditional masks

Uses of masks

    1. Masks have served an important role as a means of discipline and have been used to admonish. Common in China, Africa, Oceania, and North America, admonitory masks usually completely cover the features of the wearer. (1)

    2. Particularly among Oceanic peoples, American Indians, and African peoples, certain times of the year are set aside to honour spirits or ancestors.

    3. Totem and spiritualistic masks are donned by the elders at these ceremonies. Sometimes the masks used are reserved only for initiations.

    4. In cultures in which burial customs are important, anthropomorphic masks have often been used in ceremonies associated with the dead and departing spirits.

    5. Masks have played an important part in magico-religious rites to prevent and to cure disease: such as driving away demons

    6. A war mask will have a malevolent expression or hideously fantastic features to instill fear in the enemy.

    7. Masks for festive occasions are still commonly used. Ludicrous, grotesque, or superficially horrible, festival masks are usually conducive to good-natured license, release from inhibitions, and ribaldry. These include the Halloween, Mardi Gras, or “masked ball” variety.

    8. Masks have been used almost universally to represent characters in theatrical performances. (1)

This stone mask from the pre-ceramic Neolithic period dates to 7000 BC and is probably the oldest surviving mask in the world (Musée "Bible et Terre Sainte"). (2)

Evidence shows masks orginate from even earlier than this mask, but being made of organic materials, they have decomposed. Drawings left behind by people up to 35,000-40,000 years ago gives evidence of masks from very early cultures. (2) (history section)

VOCABULARY

Mask: an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes, as well as in the performing arts and for entertainment. They are usually worn on the face, although they may also be positioned for effect elsewhere on the wearer's body. (2)

decorative

functional

ceremonial

pattern

media/material

organic



Why this lesson

Learing about masks helps us understand that adornment and concelement are universal concepts. Through masks we can explpore

BCPSS Curriculum Cycle 4


Artists are self reflective.

Humans use masks to represent, conceal, and tell a story.

An Artist can convey a paradox

Anchor Standards:

A1, A2: E:6-8:2,A3:I:6-8:1,A3:E:6-8:1,A3:E:6-8:2,A4:I:6-8:2 A5:I:6-8:1, A6:E:6-8:1, A8E:6 8:2, A9: E:6-8:3

Essential Question(s): What masks do we wear to conceal our thoughts and inner feelings? What sides of ourselves do we share with the public?

Skill(s) Artistic Process(es) Addressed

Western concepts of Ethos & Pathos

Dramatic movements

Romanticism

Proportions in drawing facial

grid drafting practice

Golden Rule

Molding

Dividing symmetrically

Abstraction

Preparing a slab

Striking

Slip

Emphasizing 3D and attention to detail on all sides of the work.

Performance Objectives: SWBAT create a work that balances both proportion/realism and distortion/abstraction in order to convey a message.

Example: create an original, sculptured mask that contains multiple perspectives to reflect the student’s thoughts and inner feelings

Theory Objectives: SWBAT study world masks, their meanings, and culture in order to express how sculptured masks reflect the artist’s intentions. Participate in an oral or written critique and revise work based on feedback.