Arts

Doodle Night : A Good Kind of Mess

Doodle Night was a mess, in a good way. Hosted by Student Activities, the event was an opportunity for students to tie-dye, embellish and draw on simple white t-shirts. Kids crowded around tables in The Den with ink pens, drawing on t-shirts and pillowcases. Even after the event finished, idle ink pens lying on tables were used for every other purpose imaginable. From dollar bills to napkins, the doodling continued through the night, beyond the original scope of the event. Tabletops looked like the aftermath of a vicious tornado. Sticker gems, glue, ink pens, tie-dye bottles and rubberbands were scattered about in a dizzy array. Students hunched around tables with their peers, drawing on each other’s pillowcases and shirts. The designs that emerged included catchphrases, loopy patterns and portraits. There was no constraint on the creativity. “[The designs] showed how different everyone at Andover is,” said Fred Shepard ’10. People emerged from The Den wearing their newly printed shirts, clearly proud of their fresh work. The doodling then progressed into miscellaneous activities. Groups of people watched television while others played Wii on the flat-screen TVs. The laid back attitude that had been encouraged by doodling carried over later, as students reclined and enjoyed ESPN and MTV. A dominating sense of ease progressed throughout The Den. Students used the leftover paint for just about every purpose imaginable. Girls drew designs on their hands, while others drew logos and colorful signatures on the napkins of the dining tables. Formerly chastised by teachers for their doodles, students were now given an outlet to draw whatever they’d like. Elizabeth Goldsmith ’11 said, “The doodle pens caused some interesting stories.” Indeed, many of the night’s best memories were caused not by the pillowcases and t-shirts, but rather by the students’ ingenuity. Some humorously took advantage of the situation. With leftover paint lying around, some kids ended up with paint on their face. Charlie Ganner ’10 and Annie Bonifas ’10 were among those covered in what appeared to be tribal war paint. “I mean, it was unfortunate that Charlie doodled all over my face, but I had a good time,” said Bonifas. By the time she headed back to her dorm for sign-in, her face was covered in a mass of doodles, clearly indicative of the good time she had in the Den. By the end of the event, the Den was littered with empty paint bottles and scrapped designs. The tables were strewn with purple and orange napkins. Kids had gathered in circles on the patio and inside many were watching television and eating food from The Den. Doodle Night had successfully provided students a brief relief from the normal stress of Andover.