I made a gold, diamond shaped piñata and hung it outside of ADM on a tree next to the roadside. My classmates are in for a surprise as I have placed a mixture of confetti, glitter and fake insects inside of it. The confetti was taken from party poppers and it was quite nerve wrecking to remove it and there was no rationality to buying party poppers as confetti which can be bought separately.
To make the geometric shape of the piñata, I used cardboard and cut out 5 pentagon shapes. Then I measured 15cm from the flat base and scored the inside of the cardboard so I was able to bend it. After the bend, the excess cardboard was trimmed away so the 5 ends could connect to form a tip like a diamond shape.
After pouring in my secret mixture into the diamond, I started my paper mache which is the traditional ways of making a piñata. The first layer I tried was PVA glue and newspaper but it did not create a ultra strong layer so I changed the PVA to flour and water which created a harden first layer. I did about 4-6 layers per side, including the top too. The cut gold foil paper into square shapes and pasted it all around to cover the paper mache.
LET THE FUN AND CHAOS BEGIN.
It is normal for the piñata to fall onto the ground and to the surprise of many, it took a lot of strength to break apart the piñata.
ALL THAT GLITTERS IS NOT GOLD
After compiling the responses from friends and classmates, I wanted to use their preconceived idea and twist it so that it becomes unpredictable. The piñata is Unpredictability as we view it as an unassuming, innocent object and as always in it is a pleasant surprise. Unpredictability has a negative connotation to it whereby it is volatile in nature and it means change which most of us prefer familiarity instead of the unknown. The change from Unpredictability is inevitable itself and forces one to accept the change or adapt. But Unpredictability can lead to beautiful things. One example are relationships whereby it is beautiful yet it is change to an individual’s lifestyle.
Hence, the piñata is the perfect symbolism of Unpredictability. It is something we see and recognise and may seem beautiful, pleasant on the outside but it is the inside that we cannot predict or know – Unpredictable. When breaking apart the piñata, the motion itself is chaotic but through the midst of this chaos, there is a catharsis. Among the glitter are insects which no one expected and it is the individual’s choice to deem that as good or bad. Therefore, adapting to the unpredictability of it.
