The Bag Hatter - artistic paper bag hats by Moses - Brief Article

Arts & Activities, Oct, 2001 by Dona Z. Meilach

When I was a child, my mother made me tri-cornered hats from newspaper and I thought she was pretty clever. Then I saw these hats by a Hawaiian artist named Moses, and my perception of paper hats was forever changed. I was awestruck when I realized what could be done with ordinary brown-paper grocery bags in the hands of someone with an extraordinary perception.

Moses just happened to begin twisting and folding brown paper bags and, without his realizing it at first, the forms became hats. Hats after hats. Each hat was inspired by some person, event or idea, and given a title such as "Gothic Knight," "Anthurium," "Flat Knight" or "Beethoven."

Each hat may be composed of scores of paper bags with twisted, folded, crimped, crumpled, braided, flat and smooth areas. Local merchants donated all the bags. Moses said that some elements were twisted and crumpled repeatedly so that eventually they were more like a fabric and could be manipulated infinitely. Most of the elements are held together with immense quantities of white glue. What was the most tedious part of the construction process? "It was waiting for the glue to dry," explained the artist.

Moses fashioned 250 hats over a period of about 10 years. At first, his studio was the van in which he lived along the ocean in Oahu. Eventually, the local library gave him space for a studio, where fascinated library patrons watched him work. It wasn't the endless monotony of folding that finally got him to give up the project; rather, it was a serious case of tendonitis in his wrists from constantly folding and twisting the paper.

Moses can no longer be found along the shores of Hawaii and his mobile lifestyle wouldn't allow him to keep his collection. He donated it to the Mingei International Museum at Balboa Park in San Diego, Calif. (Although Moses gave each of his hats a title, their names do not appear with them in the exhibit.)

Here, in a beautiful installation, adults and groups of school children constantly admire the hats. After viewing the exhibit, they have a new fascination and appreciation of objects that can be made with the brown paper bag.

Using paper grocery bags is also a good way to recycle them. Show your students these examples, have them bring paper bags from home or the local grocery store, and let their imaginations go to their heads.

PROJECT IDEAS

* Name the hats.

* Have students make hats for themselves or for a friend.

* Twist paper and make other objects, perhaps woven and plaited baskets, figures and animals.

* Color the paper first, then twist and fold to see how the colors appear in the final shape.

* Try making objects using only two or three techniques, perhaps folding and crimping.

* Strive for shape, texture, different planes and different surface treatments such as smooth and twisted, or crimped and smooth.

Dona Z. Meilach is a frequent contributor to Arts & Activities and lives in Carlsbad, California. All photographs are by Ms. Meilach, with permission of the Mingei International Museum, San Diego, California.