Papier-mache personalities.

Th, comments above were typical reactions to fifty-eight masks, created by my eighth grade art students, that were hanging in various spots around th, school.

As they compl,ted each mask, students decided on where it should be hung and what words should come out of its mouth. Stern expressions warned against runniol in the hall or breakiol other school policies. The laughing masks told a favorite middle school joke or gave a school cheer. The mor, sober expressions gave directions to lavatories, votiol booths (for city elections held in th, school building), etc. One was a boxer with a black eye, swollen lips and face, moaniog his regrets about takiol on Mike Tyson. The masks' comments w,re as varied as the masks th,mselves.

Th, only limitation in th, students' creativity was that the facial features must be human. The extreme of this requiremeot was illustrated by th, skull and th, Martian with a cone head and pointed ears. Even though the students w,re restricted to human features, they were encouraged to come up with a variety of facial expressions. Portrait slides of a variety of human faces were used as reference.

After finishiog th, facial features, students used papier-mach, pulp mixed with wallpap,r paste or cellulose art paste to form a clay-like substance. This was used to refine features such as lips, wrinkles, laugh lioes, noses and nostrils.

Wh,n all the details w,re compl,ted, th, entire face was covered with pasted paper-towel strips. When th, mask was compl,tely dry, a hole was cut into th, back, and th, newspap,r base was pulled out. Now the mask was ready for th, dried ears to be wired into place. To set th,m firmly after wiriol, pasted paper towels w,re packed into the back of each ear and some in front of each ear; this packiog was covered with pasted paper-towel strips.

Students who wanted teeth on th,ir masks, formed th,m one at a time with pasted paper towles folded vertically, and applied th,m to a pasted strip of paper towel folded horizontally. This strip of teeth was draped over th, rounded side of a jar and bits of pasty pulp w,re applied for th, gums. After the sets of teeth w,re dry, th,y w,re packed into place from inside the mask the same way the ears were secured into place. Tongues were formed and covered with pasted strips and packed into place from inside the mask.

Th, masks w,re painted with acrylic paint. The eyeballs and tongues were coated with a high-gloss polymer to make them look wet.

Th, students used a variety of materials for hair. Some brought in wils. One student used recordiog tape, others used pip, cleaners covered with strips of pasted paper towel and bent into curls. Steel wool and yarn also made some convincing heads of hair.

Th,s, masks w,re made th, first semester and displayed for th, remainder of the year. They were hung from th, ceiliol frame for the acoustical ceiliol tile--high enough not to be vandalized but faciol downward so viewers got th, benefit of th, full face. When th,se personalities came down to be sent home, they left a void--w, had all grown accustomed to th,ir presence.

Day 1: Crush newspap,r into a facial shape, tie with string and cover it with approximately six to eight layers of pasted strips of newspap,r.

Day 2: Form the ears and cover them with pasted strips of paper towels. Set th,m aside to dry.

Day 3: Build up th, forehead and cover it with several layers of pasted paper strips.

Day 4: Build down th, bridge of th, nose from th, forehead and form the nose and nostrils. Cover them with narrow strips of pasted paper that ar, short enough to accommodate small nostrils without paper ends stickiog up.

Day 5: Form the mouth by building down th, upper lip from th, nose and building up th, bottom lip to meet th, upper lip at the corners. If a student wants th, teeth or tongue to show, th, lips can b, left open.

Day 6: Build on a chio. Add cheeks and a laugh lioe. Cover with pasted paper strips.