BY CJ GIBSON
As other courses wrapped up the semester with essays and exams, one FHSU art class ended the year by hanging piñatas of what each student hated and smashed the projects into pieces.
On the morning of Dec. 2, the 3-D Design class taught by Danielle Robinson, an adjunct instructor for the FHSU Art & Design department, gathered outside the Center for Applied Technology.
Students took turns tying their projects to a tree and beating down their creations with various blunt objects.
The project had therapeutic qualities to it, according to Emily Schoeppner, a freshman art major.
“It was a lot of fun because it was a lot more relaxed than our previous project and everyone had their own story behind it. I think it’s fair to say it was a pretty rough year for everyone so the opportunity to get together and take our rage out on something so ridiculous was almost like group therapy,” Schoeppner said.
While creating their piñatas, students were able to embrace their anger towards their past experiences to make unique designs. Schoeppner’s piñata was a caricature of someone who had harassed her in the past, and she filled it with shredded paper she had written those traumatic memories on.
“It definitely helped get some anger out, especially for students with really emotional stories behind their projects,” Schoeppner said, “For me personally, it was just great to be able to talk normally about what I went through and joke about it because I was so closed off about it in high school. Working on it with everybody helped me realize that I didn’t have to take it so seriously. I didn’t have to hide that I struggled with certain things because people weren’t judging me, they’d just say, ‘screw that guy.’”
Students were given three weeks to work on their piñatas, not including fall break.
Schoeppner described some other projects that Robinson’s 3-D Design course had finished that semester saying they made light switch plates by casting aluminum in molds they made with clay and resin-bonded sand. She said they also abstracted objective sculptures of figures by carving down foam and covering it in plaster.
“[Robinson] challenges us to expand on our ideas and think about structure differently. Finishing projects on time can be tough, but it’s always worth it when we have a day to demolish piñatas or work in the foundry. She also has a great sense of humor and is just fun to be around,” Schoeppner said.
While the hatred piñatas may have been destroyed, the lasting effects of Robinson’s final project made it a smashing success.