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and Students Since 1994
Mask Lesson Ideas
Lessons submitted by: Kathrine L Walker
Lesson: Masks
Grade Level: Middle School
Background:
This series of mask lessons was developed for the Lyman Allyn Art Museum in New London, CT which has a large mask collection. The unit was part of a Carnegie grant program at West Side Middle School in Groton, CT and my assistant Dawn Estabrooks helped me write this. The program was taught during "flex" period as an option to ping-pong, sports videos and making hair scrungies. The wonderful L.D. teacher, Barbara Moran, at the school was behind it all.
Goals:
To learn about different cultures through their masking traditions.
To tie into the Social Studies and English curricula and offer an interdisciplinary way of looking at world studies.
Experiment with a variety of mask making media.
Develop a sense of 3-D.
To encourage creativity
Mask Analysis
First, physically describe the mask so that someone who is blind could picture it.
Answer these questions: (Note: this is done cold - there are no right or wrong answers. Questions are arranged from material to esoterica)
What is this mask made out of? How was it made? what tools were used to make it?
Where does it come from. How old is it? How dies it reflect place and time?
What was the mask used for? (ceremonial, theatre, funerary, fun, etc. Please be specific and try to describe the use).
Who wore the mask? (man, woman, child) What was their profession? Living or dead? etc.
What sort of character would the masquerader become when he or she put on the mask?
What sorts of noises and movements would accompany the wearing of the mask?
What values might have been placed on the mask? (Monetary, religious, statues, etc.)
Has the meaning or usage of this mask changed over time, either within or outside the culture in which it was made?
What personal associations does the mask conjure up?
What does this mask tell you about the people who made it? (Lifestyles, beliefs, skills, etc.)
If this were your mask, what would you do with it?
We used masks from our study collection from Africa, Japan, Eskimo, New Guinea. You could use prints, go to a museum, etc. After students had done the work (usually in teams) we discussed their answers and they were given known information.
Books
Masks of the World
Masks: Faces of Culture
Maskmaking
The subsequent units were on:
Death Masks
Egyptian sarcophagi masks & Pre-Columbian burial masks. We discussed burial customs, beliefs in the after-life and the process of creating the death masks. I think everyone can find plenty of Egyptian info! As for Pre-Columbian, the burial rituals were quite similar (also the Chinese). It is the belief in an after-life that probably made the concept of human sacrifice so palatable to the Pre-Columbians. It was considered honorable to give up one's life for the good of the community, and the souls of the sacrificed went to a special "heaven". Using plaster-gauze mask-making techniques, students created their own death masks.
Book: Mummies And Death in Egypt
Theatre Masks
Greek and Roman theatre masks and Japanese Noh theatre masks. Noh drama originated in religious dances, which by the mid-14th century became a type of music drama utilized by the Buddhist religion. Masks were required by the principal actors or shite. European theatre - mystery plays, Commedia dell'Arte. Carnival/Mardi Gras. Lambourne, Lionel, Madame Tussaud's Book of Victorian Masks, New York: E.P. Dutton, 1987. Info on European masking. Student created Terra-cotta theatre masks using mythology as topics.
Book: Japanese No Masks
Spirit Masks
African, New Guinea, Native American (north and south) Students created cardboard & papier mache spirit masks, including natural fibers, shells, etc. Ladislas Segy, Masks of Black Africa, New York Dover Publications, 1976 Terms for spirit mask include Ancestor Worship - Belief that the spirits of ones ancestors will watch over and aid members of the society. Animism - The belief that objects contain living spirits or living qualities Ideology - The result of man's encounter with external reality and the justification for rituals. Ritual - Acts performed to invoke preternatural entities. It cast spiritual prayers into the visible world. A means of calling/requesting powers to do mans' will.
Book: African Masks: From the Barbier-Mueller Collection
Mask Making unit suggestions from Kathy Douglas:
It is my belief that we need to connect to the students and provide them with the opportunity to use the information we share in school for their own purposes. As Eisner says (paraphrased) we want students to do well in life, rather than just well in school. So, going back to the Big Ideas discussion, we try to get to essences. When I introduce my mask center the discussion is the essence of masks: masks can hide you/ tell people about you, masks can be ugly/beautiful, scary/funny, part of a costume, part of a job uniform, realistic/fantasy, a story telling tool, a decoration, a religious artifact, part of theater performance, and so on. Next question: What do these various masks have in common? One answer, perhaps, exaggeration... color... etc. Next question: What are some ways a mask could be created? (papier mache, plaster, a box, a bag, face paint, etc etc) Next question: What sort of mask are you interested in making and what is the best way to do that, to express what you want to express? Thinking about the issues of 8th graders (middle schoolers), what drives them, motivates them? How about the masks that kids assume in school in order to be popular? Or to rebel against authority? How about a mask expressing both insides and outsides of a personality?
