March 25, 2010

Michael deMeng Classes in April at Zinnia

Michael deMeng is coming to Zinnia in April
Saturday April 17th 2010

Cave of Pages
10:30 am till 6:00 pm
$140.


lisa
Michael loves working with old paper and ephemera. "Of course I really love working with it when you can play with the 3rd dimension. I figure why just collage when you can add a little depth and assemblage (pronounced the same way as collage...if you want to be fancy), so it's time to "read between the lines", literally. What were going to do in this class is start off with a cigar box base and using other ephemera, photographs and found objects, we will transform it into a cave of pages." What lurks behind the pages is up to you. Get ready to start reading into things.



Sunday April 18th 2010
Calacas Assemblage
10:30 am till 6:00 pm
$140.

calacas

Every year Michael visits Mexico during Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Not only is this a marvelous event where relatives celebrate the memories of the deceased, but it is also a chance for the living to mock the reaper. It's a way for the living to say: "Neener, neener you haven't got me yet". One of the ways that Mexicans do this is with little skeletal toys known as "calacas". Usually they are playful scenes where the skeletons are in the engaged in everyday activities, riding bicycles, walking dogs, dancing with devils (okay, so this one is perhaps not an everyday activity). The idea is to have a little fun with ones morality. Well, that is what we'll be doing in class. Using doll parts, action figures, and other found objects student will create little skeletons that will tickle your funny bone.

A common symbol of the holiday is the skull (colloquially called calavera), which celebrants represent in masks, called calacas (colloquial term for "skeleton")

Michael is full of creative inspiration and is so generous in sharing all his "tricks of the trade"
He has the ability to provoke inventiveness and gets his students to think outside that box we may create in. Concocting new colors with weird names and using new materials is always something to look forward to in one of Michael's classes, not only that but he usually has cool music, he gives amazing critics and always have a great sense of humor.

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