The Cardboard Catwalk

The Odd Couple

For this project we had to pair off into groups of six (although ours ended up a group of eight) We were given two contrasting artists for different periods of history. Ours were Louise Bourgeois and Claude Monet. We were asked to create two outfits, sculpures or objects 9one for each of the artists) which would be displayed on a catwalk at the end the week and have to interact with one another. At first we were unsure of how to combine these two very different artists, however, after a short while, ideas were flowing.


First we were asked to create a research sheet based upon one of the artists, I chose to look at Louise Bourgeois.

Then we had to create a sheet experimenting with the various ways in which we could manipulate cardboard.

We decided it was best to play up on just how different these two artists are, Claude Monet being very traditional and observational, whereas Louise Bourgeious is very strange, surreal, modern and abstract. For Monet, we decided to do something very mundane, yet something which is immediatly recognisable as his work-the haystack. However, though we thought that a lot of Monet's subject matter was very conservative and uninspiring, we loved his use of colour, therefore decided to show the two sides of him. The outside of the haystack is very dull and colourless, yet as part of the performance aspect of the catwalk the haystack falls open into the shape of a flower, and is painted like Monet's waterlilies, to show that his work is also beautiful.

For Louise Bourgeois we decided to focus upon her sculptural work. For the outfit we made a spiral based around her works entitled 'the spiral woman' and 'the couple'.

We coated the newspaper with strips of cardboard and then proceeded to spray paint it silver to give it a cold/metalic work similar to Bourgeois.

To accompany the spiral piece we created a series of body parts and limbs out of cardboard, as we noticed that Bourgeois created manu pieces inspired by the human body.

This is a hand I fashion out of using only cardboard. Below are body parts that other members of my group created:

The completed, spray painted limbs and body parts.