Another part of the project was to find some information about my chosen masks and that I would have to do some investigation. Bellow you can see my investigation.When this was done I decided to start doing some designs for my masks. The designs will have to express something and this is going to be expressed through the forms and the colours of the mask. What the colours represent can be seen further down the research. I also had to do some designs and this can be seen in the design section.
Research
Where do the masks come from and its uses?
The Chinese opera mask come from China (duuh) and they were used in theatres in China. There are different versions of the Chinese opera and the masks in the different parts of China, even if the Beijing Opera Masks are the most famous ones. It is also the Beijing Opera Masks I will focus the most on since they are the most widespread. The Beijing Opera is also known as Jingju. The first Chinese opera started in the Tang dynasty when the emperor Xuangsong organised plays for himself. This is often regarded as the start for the Chinease opera, but it was not before 13th century the use took off. The acting is based on allusion: gestures, footwork, and other body movements express such actions as riding a horse, rowing a boat, or opening a door. Dialogue is also very restricted, but due to the strong percussion music there was still an oral aspect to it. In the beginning of the 20th century the popularity rose to new heights again and they are still popular to this day.
There mask are purely for acting and there are no religious aspects to it. This is one of the aspects which makes the mask unique.
What do the masks mean and what are the different designs?
In Chinese opera there are not many character that crop up and up again and this reflects in the masks since there are no characters in the masks. The only characters that are reflected are Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Tu Xingsu, Lian Po, Xia Houdun, Cao Cao and Zhen Hun. The colors of the maks reflects the character's personality. Beneath you can see what Wikipedia says about the meanings of the different colours:
- White: Sinister, evil, crafty, treacherous, and suspicious. Anyone wearing a white mask is usually the villain.
- Green: Impulsive, violent, no self restraint or self control.
- Red: Brave, loyal.
- Black: Rough, fierce, or impartial.
- Yellow: Ambitious, fierce, cool-headed.
- Blue: Steadfast, someone who is loyal and sticks to one side no matter what.
Above you can see a picture of Cao Cao. Like seen from the colours and the form he is often a thief or a person you need to be suspicious to.
An excellent website to see what the different characters stand for is on http://www.paulnoll.com/China/Opera/China-opera-colors.html. Yo can click on the different mask to see what they represent.
What are the masks made out of?
Chinese Masks are made up of numerous materials like stones and metals, leather and cloth, paper and grass and more. They are made out of everything they could find.
Design
I also had to have a design which I would base my project on. I wanted still to have a quite traditional mask and therefore I used colours to express my mask. The mask had to express how you wanted to be seen by other people and this was one of the major focuses I had. This was done through the colours explained in the research. I think the design is generally good, although I would have liked to have at least one extra aspect which describes my personality. If you look at the mouth of the mask you can see that it is smilling and this was specifically done inorder to mach how I want to be viewed by otherers: smiling and happy. The forms shown on the mask are there to follow how the tradisional Chinese opera mask design.
Bibliography
- http://ezinearticles.com/?Chinese-Masks-And-Culture&id=1141259
- http://www.paulnoll.com/China/Opera/China-opera-colors.html
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_opera
Ingen kommentarer:
Legg inn en kommentar