RESEARCH- CARDBOARD COSTUMES

I want to experiment with cardboard first as it's easily found and it's a relatively malleable material to start off with! I also have experience making heads with cardboard, as can be seen below:

big paper head eating a paper fish

Naum Gabo

Cardboard model for Head in a Corner Niche- 1917 (a)

Head of Woman - c.1920 (b)

Naum Gabo was a 'pioneer of constructive art' [1], and I particularly like his cardboard/card structures. I think the way they are built into a corner and how they use the space around them is really interesting and could translate well into a gallery space. I would like to try to make my costume be a part of it's surroundings, instead of my original idea of having it hanging from the ceiling, but this is something I can try and experiment with.

Image from etsy- Wintercroft (c)

I also wanted to experiment with making a geometric style head, inspired by this etsy company that sells PDF instructions on how to make your own geometric animal heads. I'm not particularly exact or mathematical, but if I draw out a rough idea than I think I can try and make a small version of a full bear head. Using specific shapes means that I can easily print out pattern designs for it or it can be easily covered in prints/ illustrations etc.

From looking at cardboard costumes above I found this very sweet costume:

Image and costume by Merrily Liddiard - mermagblog (d)

What I like about this is the hand painted quality which adds an illustrative feel. The cardboard shape itself is simple but it is made special by the details added afterwards. The handprinted details are something I can add to my own bear head to make it original and to steer it away from the Freger-esque ritual costumes.

REFERENCES + Images

[1] GABO, NAUM
(a) GABO, NAUM
(b) GABO, NAUM
(c) WINTERCROFT, STEVE
(d) LIDDIARD, MERRILEE


Gabo, N. 2016. Biography. [Online]. [Accessed 9 Nov]. Available from:
http://www.naum-gabo.com/biography/

Gabo, N. 1917. Cardboard model for Head in a Corner Niche. [Online]. [Accessed 9 Nov]. 

Available from: http://www.naum-gabo.com/gallery/

Gabo, N. c. 1920. Head of Woman. [Online]. [Accessed 9 Nov]. Available from: http://thedelightsofseeing.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/photograph-as-3-dimensional-object.html?m=1

Wintercroft, S. 2016. Bear Costume. [Online]. [Accessed 11 Nov] Available from:
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/191359614/bear-mask-make-your-own-from-recycled?ref=related-4

Liddiard, M. 2015. DIY Cardboard Llama Costume. [Online]. [Accessed 11 Nov] Available from:
http://mermagblog.com/diy-cardboard-llama-costume/