My alarm went off at 6, and I had to be at the meeting spot in ten minutes; it's a five minute walk from my dorm, so it was a safe bet. On a whim, I grabbed my guitar so that I could add some background music to the occasion.
When everyone had gathered and we started to open the cardboard package, I began to play something light and happy; I'm no expert guitar player, so I stuck with the chord's from John Denver's Leaving on a Jet Plane. But when we got to the lock-box with the numerical combination, Vivian (our professor) realized that she hadn't remembered to bring the unlock combination for the box, and attempted to access her email and such through a readily available iPhone. At this point, I switch to minor chords to reflect the gravity of the situation.
The frustration with the lock only added to the feeling of victory when we came up the combination for the lock... on the bottom of the box itself. Feeling both silly and victorious, we opened the box and welcomed the masks to our College with sunrise, history, music, and smiles.
We transported the masks back to our theater building by playing in them along the way, making sure to go past many notable campus locations. I got to wear the male mask. We tried to make friends with a cat, ran up a washed-out hill that had been marked off with caution tape, and jumped on manhole-covers that made a very satisfying gong-like sound when stomped upon.
There's something great about playing in a wooden mask. Their personalities are very distinct and very present; I think it's because the carving of wood is a very personal and organic thing, and the effect of the grain on the mask is something that's not even under the control of the mask maker. It's something that just happens, a beautiful example of how awesome the "unplanned thing" can be.
The metal bits and sharp edges toward the middle of the face initially led me to think that the masks would me much more somber and serious than they ended up being. The masks were always curious, but not often child-like. They often had a maturity about them, but were not world-weary... the bits of man-made metal combined with the carved wood created a beautiful effect. These masks are both natural and man-made, light and dark, mature but not depressed. They are not only neutral in the sense that they convey little to no evocative facial expression, but also because anybody can easily step into them. They figuratively represent all our differences, but as one, unified, living piece of performance art.
-Zach Armstrong, W&M '11
2 comments:
Great to read about the masks first days in the US - Looking forward to read about future happenings and explorations. Wish I also was there - Lucky masks ! Torbjorn
We wish you could be here, too!! These masks have raised the bar for the class and everyone is responding well! Vivian
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