Thursday, March 27, 2014

Deconstructing the Construction of a "Meat-Filled" Zebra Piñata - Part 2



Only a few days left until showtime and our Baby Zebra Piñata is virtually completed, save for a few final finishing touches and the stuffing of various meat-treats (generously provided by Big Chief Meat Snacks) and candies (for you non-meat eaters).

(And if you’re wondering why we’re hosting this crazy ‘Meat-Up’ event (get it?), read this.)


When last we left our Zebra Piñata, it was just about to be assembled. Piñata Experts Heather Ilsley and Derek Mah from ThePinataProject.com have been working furiously over the last couple of months to complete it in time for our “Meat-Filled” Zebra Piñata party this Sunday, spending at least 100+ hours on this project. We’re so grateful for the thought, effort and most importantly time they’ve put into this project on our behalf, and we hope you’ll support their efforts by joining us this Sunday!

And now on to the photos.



Here is our fully assembled but yet-to-be-decorated Baby Zebra. The head has already been mounted to the body and the whole thing has had mâché applied as well as a layer of white tissue paper to give it some uniformity. The ears were constructed out of white cardboard and the ‘feet’ are styrofoam balls.



To give you an idea of the scale of this thing, here’s Heather as she presents our piñata to the world. As you can see, it’s half the size of Heather and twice as thick. Or in other words: This thing is HUGE! The black markings on its body are where the stripes will be applied.



Heather as she applies the Zebra striping. The stripes were created by taking black and white paper streamers and folding them in half, then feathering them by making quarter-inch cuts perpendicular to the folds. It results in a great effect as it gives the piñata a bit of texture. Simple to do, but very time consuming to create; converting an entire roll of paper streamer can literally take a few hours. The stripes are then applied to the piñata using white glue.



Derek as he applies the googly eyes to the Baby Zebra. They initially thought to create their own as they were uncertain that they’d be able to find eyes at the correct scale, but in the end, they were able to find something close. To make the eyes look bigger than they actually were, Derek added some black striping around the eye sockets.



The snout and the feet are decorated with black and white hockey tape, to give those parts of the Zebra a different texture and look. Much thought and consideration has been put towards the visuals as the piñata takes more and more damage throughout the night, and a conscious decision was made to use different materials for the feet as Heather and Derek want to see them fly off as it takes more and more damage from the evisceration by our ‘lions’ for the evening.



We wanted to give our Baby Zebra a bit of an attitude, so we decided to go with a multicoloured mane and tail rather than a plain black one. Heather shows off the mane she created by taking multiple pieces of different coloured tissue paper, folding them over and feathering them similar to the way the zebra stripes were feathered using the paper streamers. To hold it all together, she broke out her sewing kit and stitched the tissue paper similar to how a book is bound to its cover.



Heather and Derek apply the mane to the piñata using hot glue. We decided to give our Baby Zebra a bit of a mohawk as well by attaching it closer to the forehead. The tail was created by taking various pieces of tissue paper, twisting them together and splaying the ends. It was attached to the piñata by poking a hole in its backside and securing it with more hot glue.



And there you have it, our (mostly) finished Baby Zebra Piñata! Isn’t it cute? Just needs a few more finishing touches and to be stuffed with candies and jerky-treats and then it’ll be ready for showtime!

If you're interested, more photos from our Baby Zebra’s construction can be found on our Facebook page.


In order to accommodate the interest that seems to be brewing in the public eye for this project, we’re extending the hours by opening the doors at 6 p.m. rather than 6:30 p.m. That way, if you want to have your picture taken with our piñata before the festivities start, you’ll have some extra time to do so. Make sure to take plenty; once the evisceration starts, there’ll be no going back!

So the final agenda for the evening now looks like this:

Agenda:

  • Doors and “Last Chance” Piñata Photo Ops at 6:00 p.m.
  • Eulogy at 8 p.m.
  • Zebra Evisceration at 8:20 p.m.
  • Lamentations, Reminiscing and After Party at 8:45 p.m.


A BIG THANK YOU to Heather and Derek from ThePinataProject.com for helping us with this project and for generously sponsoring our piñata. They’ve spent over 100 hours of their free time on it, bankrolling everything from the materials to the candy stuffing themselves as an official piñata for their piñata project for this year. It’s a beautiful piece of art (the very nature of this event will highlight its transient nature) and we certainly couldn’t have created such a magnificent beast on our own.

And another shout out to Big Chief Meat Snacks for their generosity in providing the jerky-treats that will be stuffed into our Baby Zebra, as well as for the meat-treat platters that we’ll have on display that people can enjoy before and after the evisceration. Without the support of this local Calgary company, our event would not be “Meat-Filled” at all.

As always, all of our events are free and open to the public. Hope you can join us this Sunday evening at Endeavor Arts and feel free to bring your friends. It’s going to be AWESOME!

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Deconstructing the Construction of a "Meat-Filled" Zebra Piñata



The original Meat-Filled Zebra Piñatas project funded by Awesome Foundation - Boston in January 2013 was the talk of the Global AF sphere for a solid three months. It had been a while since a zany project such as that one had been funded by a chapter anywhere in the world, and it was a callback to our roots of funding things that no other traditional granting organization would fund (i.e. Funding Awesome).

So when we here at Awesome Calgary were looking for programming ideas to host during the lead up to our chapter relaunch in April based on ideas of projects that have been funded by The Awesome Foundation elsewhere in the world, something to honour AF-Boston’s original Zebra Piñata project was always in the back of our minds.

When we learned that there was a group of individuals in Calgary (i.e. Heather Ilsley and Derek Mah at ThePinataProject.com or TPP for short) that decided to make a piñata a month for fun (and this despite them never having built a piñata in their lives outside of their childhood), choosing to bankroll the whole thing themselves AND documenting the whole thing from construction to destruction (or deployment to destroyment, as they like to put it), we took it as a sign.

So we reached out to them to see if they’d be interested in working with us in some way this year and if we could commission them to create a zebra piñata for us. We were thrilled that they wanted to work with us on this project, and couldn’t be more grateful that they chose our AF-Calgary Zebra Piñata to become one of their official monthly piñatas for the year as part of their experimental Piñata Project. And that is the story of how our ‘Meat-Filled’ Zebra Piñata Party was born.

What follows are some behind-the-scenes photos from the early phases of the build; in fact, the actual piñata itself is much further along as we speak, and you can tune in to ThePinataProject.com later on to learn more as we get closer to our event on Sunday, March 30.



These are some of the materials that will be used in the construction of the piñata. In addition to the paper mâché, there’s newspaper, white glue, black and white coloured streamers (to give the zebra its striped body), black tissue paper, balloons, some twine to suspend the piñata from the rafters of its final home at Endeavor Arts and a paint brush to apply the paper mâché and glue. All-in-all, it’s basic piñata construction fare. The pink item is a Japanese paper lantern, whose use will be described later on.

 
 
 

These are conceptual sketches of the Zebra Piñata that Heather and Derek envision creating. Most of the Zebra Piñatas used by zoos in real life are created almost to scale in order to increase their authenticity to the lions. Because we’re paying homage to the original project that AF-Boston funded rather than going with a strict reimplementation, they decided to have a little fun with their design, choosing to go with a caricature of a baby zebra with rounded limbs. The tricky bit was figuring out how to create the elongated body; up to this point, TPP’s piñatas have used balloons to create the majority of their structures, which in this case, would not have been able to give them the shape they envisioned the body should have at this scale. According to Derek, the team at this point had already spent 20+ hours on figuring out how not to build the body. The first prototype body was too weak and the second prototype wouldn’t even fit through the door. The piñata body we’re talking about here is their third attempt.



As you can see, they envision building it so it cracks open like an egg when broken, rather than it opening randomly with bits flying everywhere. This implies putting some thought into how the body is constructed and which parts of it are reinforced. Because we’ll be holding our event at an art gallery, they’re also putting in some thought to how the ‘guts’ of the piñata fall out, or in other words, what the visuals of the evisceration looks like. The ideal is that things fall straight down because a) that would look more visually pleasing as the zebra starts slowly leaking its guts all over the place as it accumulates more damage, b) it’ll make clean up easier later on and c) there’s less risk of damage from flying debris to the other art pieces in the gallery. TPP is trying to practice responsible destroyment and we couldn’t agree more.



In order to give our baby zebra an elongated body, the team ultimately decided to go with two Japanese paper lanterns. That way, they could approximate the desired egg-like behaviour as the piñata cracks open down the middle by making each lantern one-half of the body, while still giving them something hollow enough to work with when it came to stuffing it full of treats later on. Of course, with the lantern being made of paper itself, it would disintegrate as soon as the paper mâché was applied. They solved this issue by waterproofing it first by wrapping it in plastic and then applying the paper mâché overtop of it.



Here is what the two halves of the baby zebra body look like after the paper mâché is applied. There’s at least three layers in this photo, although they may have added more since then to reinforce the structure (we want to make sure as many people in attendance as possible get a whack). Again, you can see how the body will try to emulate the breaking of an egg when everything is fitted together.



This will form the basis of the head of our baby zebra. It was constructed using a traditional balloon, while the snout was shaped and constructed using regular cardboard.



Here’s another headshot, with a bottle of wine and Derek’s finger for scale, along with the initial application of the neck piece which will later be mounted on the body. As you can see, the head alone is larger than a bottle of wine. Ears and other decorations will be added later, and the team hopes to custom-create 3D googly eyes that will react each time the piñata is struck. They believe that they’ll have to build those eyes themselves as they have been unable to find any that have been pre-made to the scale that they need.

And that was a sneak-peek at some of the earlier aspects of our piñata build, courtesy of Heather and Derek. They started building our piñata back in February, and things have progressed greatly since then. Another update detailing more advanced phases of the build will soon be posted over at ThePinataProject.com, so make sure to keep an eye on them over there, or follow them on Twitter at @PinataProject for all the latest details!

In the meantime, here again are the details on our “Meat-Filled” Zebra Piñata Party:


Agenda:

  • Doors and “Last Chance” Piñata Photo Ops at 6:00 p.m.
  • Eulogy at 8 p.m.
  • Zebra Evisceration at 8:20 p.m.
  • Lamentations, Reminiscing and After Party at 8:45 p.m.


Heather and Derek have spent an INSANE amount of hours on this project up to this point (not counting the 20+ hours on the failed prototypes), with many, many more hours to go until completion, so we hope you can make it out to our event on March 30 to show them your support for this massive undertaking!

And a BIG THANK YOU to our friends over at Big Chief Meat Snacks as they’ll be providing some meat-treats for us to make our Zebra Piñata truly “meat-filled” (and if you’re not a meat eater, don’t worry as we’ll also have traditional piñata fare like candies and toys). So make sure to come join us if you can; this event promises to be Awesome!

Monday, March 17, 2014

Awesome Calgary Presents: A 'Meat-Filled' Zebra Piñata Party!



As we countdown to our chapter’s relaunch in April 2014, we’ll be hosting various events and activities during the lead up inspired by Awesome Foundation grants awarded in other cities around the world.

Thus far, we’ve performed a Valentine’s Day Balloon Scavenger Hunt on Stephen Avenue Walk and Barclay Mall in partnership with Downtown Calgary in honour of the Valentine’s Day Love Letter Scavenger Hunt project funded by AF-San Francisco back in January 2013 (as well as the Poetry+QR Codes project funded by AF-Chicago back in November 2011), and a “Strings-Attached” Speed Gaming event inspired by the Speed-Gaming! project funded by AF-Ottawa back in January 2013.


Up Next: Our take on the Meat-Filled Zebra Piñatas project that Awesome Foundation - Boston funded in January 2013.

The original AF-Boston funded project contributed to the creation of meat-filled zebra piñatas as a way to engage lions at the zoo in various animal enrichment activities to help stave off cabin fever (yes, apparently, it’s A THING).

Our Awesome Calgary ‘Meat-Filled’ Zebra Piñata Party will pay homage to the project that AF-Boston funded with us creating our own GIANT-SIZED Zebra Piñata (oh no, this ain’t no store-bought piñata at all) in partnership with the piñata experts (i.e Heather Ilsley and Derek Mah) over at ThePinataProject.com. You’ll also be able to follow along in the creation of this special piñata over on their blog.

In fact, meticulous thought is being put into the creation of this piñata as we speak, including how it’ll break, the impact of the visuals as its guts get eviscerated onto the floor, and even what the ‘meat’ filling will be (and we’re DELIGHTED to announce that there will be meat-treats (in addition to traditional piñata fare like candies and toys) courtesy of our friends over at Big Chief Meat Snacks! Mmm…BITE ME! :-) ) The ‘lions’ will be people (wearing lion-themed blindfolds, of course) and the evisceration will take place using baseball bats (or possibly hockey sticks), but after seeing this piñata in the flesh, you’ll agree that it’s less a piñata and more a form of art, and an experience so rich that you’ll regret missing out on it if you don’t attend.

This will also be an opportunity to meet the creators and experts behind ThePinataProject.com and learn more about why they’re creating a piñata a month and documenting it from construction to destruction (or deployment to destroyment, as they like to put it), as well as to pick their brains about all things piñatas in case you were interested in creating one yourself.

Finally, you’ll also be able to meet some fantastic people and learn more about Awesome Foundation - Calgary directly from the people involved with it in a fun, casual environment.

So yes, it’ll be a “Meat-and-Greet” event with the folks at Awesome Calgary and ThePinataProject.com. And as always, all of our events are free to attend and open to the public. We hope you can make it down!

 

Agenda:

  • Doors and “Last Chance” Piñata Photo Ops at 6:00 p.m.
  • Eulogy at 8 p.m.
  • Zebra Evisceration at 8:20 p.m.
  • Lamentations, Reminiscing and After Party at 8:45 p.m.


More programming details to come as we get closer to the event (although in the meantime, feel free to read up on our behind-the-scenes feature Deconstructing the Construction of a “Meat-Filled” Zebra Piñata (as well as Part 2) for a look at the early stages of construction of this thing), so stay tuned and make sure to save the date! It'll be...Awesome. :-)

And in the meantime, thanks again to Big Chief Meat Snacks for sponsoring the meaty bits that we’ll be stuffing into our Zebra Piñata! Mmm…Bite Me!

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Awesome Calgary Presents: A 'Strings-Attached' themed Awesome Hours at Speed Gaming 2.0

Photo Credit: Erik Mallinson via Flickr



As we countdown to our chapter’s relaunch in April 2014, we’ll be hosting various events and activities during the lead up inspired by AF grants awarded in other cities.

Up Next: Our take on the Speed-Gaming! project granted by Awesome Ottawa back in January 2013.

We hosted one of these last year during a Gamer Sunday at Dickens Pub, and we’re doing it again…but this time with a twist!

(and good news for any of you that attended our Speed Gaming 1.0 event last year, or played with us at our Relaxation Station in the community of Mission last year during the flood aftermath: Doktor Stephen has agreed to host a GIANT game of Werewolves at the end to cap off the event. Friendships can be made/broken based on the outcome of these games so you know that a fun time is essentially guaranteed!)

 

  • What:  Awesome Calgary Presents: A ‘Strings-Attached' themed Awesome Hours at Speed Gaming 2.0
  • Where:  Dickens Pub (1000 - 9 Avenue SW)
  • When:  Sunday, March 9, 2014. Check-in/Registration starts at 1:30 p.m., event from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
  • RSVP:  Facebook, Meetup, Yelp


Agenda:

  • 1:30 p.m. - Check-in/Registration
  • 2:30 p.m. - Game #1
  • 3:00 p.m. - 15 minute break
  • 3:15 p.m. - Game #2
  • 3:45 p.m. - 15 minute break
  • 4:00 p.m. - Game #3
  • 4:30 p.m. - GIANT game of Werewolves moderated by Doktor Stephen
  • 5 p.m. to Whenever - Event Ends/After-Event Gaming


Tentative Game List:

...and more!

How Speed Gaming Works:
The intent is that perhaps you’ll be exposed to a fun game that you’ve never played before while meeting some fantastic new people. Various stations will be set up with different games you can play. We’ll randomly assign you to a table, where you’ll have 30 minutes to play. After the 30 minutes are up, we’ll take a short break where you’ll be randomly assigned to another table and then you’ll have another 30 minutes to play the new game. We’ll do this three times and afterwards, everyone is invited to stay and play some other games (the bar has an assortment, or you can bring your own) until the pub closes at midnight. Who knows, Werewolf was a huge hit last year but took too long to cram in a complete game in 30 minutes. Maybe Doktor Stephen will be willing to host a giant game after the event? We’ll see…

What are Awesome Hours?
We’re ramping up operations here at Awesome Calgary as we lead up to our chapter’s relaunch in April 2014. Awesome Hours are a great way to meet people involved with The Awesome Foundation to learn more about our micro-granting program, some of the events and activities we’ll be up to throughout the year, and learn about the various Trustee and volunteer opportunities that are available. And if you ever wanted to pick our brains about what kinds of projects we like to grant or what makes for a successful pitch, now’s your opportunity to do that from the source!

Our Twist:
We’re very proud that our $1,000 micro-grants come no-strings-attached. It encourages people to take risks when pitching an idea they have to make Calgary just a bit more awesome to live in.

However, sometimes strings can be a FUN thing! So, if you have any questions about Awesome Foundation - Calgary or The Awesome Foundation in general, look for the people with ‘Strings-Attached’ (to pink balloons) and feel free to assault them with your curiosity.

And if you want your own balloon name tag, we might be able to accommodate you (while supplies last)! BUT: You’ll need to know the secret phrase and it’ll be up to YOU to figure out what it is using all of your intelligence and ingenuity… ;-)