What do social distancing & stay-at-home mean for Handshouse students & makers? Time to get back to Handshouse roots & get creative of course! Typically, students & instructors have access to well-stocked, state-of-the-art shops to be able to create scale models & studies for larger objects like the Making/History: Trojan Horse Project. Handshouse projects are all about studying objects HANDS-ON. We aim to explore, & understand these objects & their place in cultural history through physical making processes. So what does that mean when we can’t be together in the studio? Lately, students & instructors have been re-imagining classroom learning through digital tools & innovating from their kitchen tables!

Check out some of the models made by student Olivia Wiktor of the Trojan Horse, part of the Making/History: Trojan Horse Project. Originally the class goal was to continue research done in past workshops and classes by extensively studying the form of the horse, and creating several versions as 4-foot models made of wood. When the class had to move online, the project had to be adapted. Olivia, an Architecture student at Mass College of Art, was able to alter the classes CAD drawings of the Trojan Horse model, & using her Rhino skills, scale them to a few different sizes so fellow students could create layered horse models with the kinds of materials they could work with from their own homes. Olivia says “I’ve made mine at 1/4=1’0” out of newspaper & flour paper mache. I printed out the layer drawing & cut them out, I cut about 50 layers of newspaper for each horse layer & paper mached them all together. Then I took a piece of sandpaper to smooth it & shape it.”  The Handhouse philosophy is to ‘explore history, understand science, & perpetuate the arts’ through a hands-on collaborative approach & students like Olivia are keeping that alive in these unique times. Sometimes, the model can be just as rewarding!

Photo credit: Olivia Wiktor @oliviart17