Thirteenth International Conference on Design Principles & Practices

Abstract

Horse-Ladle Masks are identified as a national intangible cultural heritage in China. This heritage can be traced back to the 10th century B.C. when people created masks for ritual and ceremonial purposes. For generations, farmers in Loess Plateau adapted the masks’ ritual concepts and designed Zoomorphic images on the curve surfaces of horse ladles to transform this practical farming tool into a spiritual blessing item, especially for luck, wealth, and fortune. Mask-making, therefore, became farmers’ after-work daily practice and design codes were generalized. For example, the color codes for the masks are black for integrity, red for royalty, white for traitor, yellow for violence, blue for reckless, and green for faith. The combination colors and shapes always indicate specific purpose, function, and recognizable character from folk legend. A fieldwork project was conducted at Xi’an University of Technology that students majoring in design were assigned to spend a weekend living with local farmers on site, collect hands-on experience for their mask design project, and create contemporary masks on new horse ladles after the trip. Students applied various design strategies and approaches to reflect on to what they have seen and experienced; most of them added new visual components, such as pop cultures and their sub-cultures, to the design and made the masks differ from the tradition. This paper will present the rationale of the design project, analyze the students’ productions, and examine the value and approaches of teaching folk art in a college design course.