Cardboard Monster & Cardboard Monster : Rosie

Cardboard Monster & Cardboard Monster: Rosie belong to a colony of friendly monsters constructed from recycled elements. The face and body are made of two piles of cardboard packages stacked on top of each other, their logos visible—an amused nod to consumer society. The boxes, simply crushed and tied together with wire to hold them in place, appear fragile in contrast to the six identical feet anchored to the ground and supporting the entire work—their multiplicity, disturbing. Is it an optical illusion or are there several creatures hiding? If gender stereotypes are to be believed, there is a man and a little girl. Inspired by cartoon heroes or children’s toys, their large round eyes are represented by two black disks on a white background. Their pupils are controlled—as indicated by the reel of wire lying on the floor—by an electric motor, whose vibration, when combined with the continuous rhythm of the movement, creates a hypnotic effect. The young girl’s eyes rotate asymmetrically, the man’s move simultaneously; their mad gazes travel in different directions, never meeting, lending the scene a humoristic aspect. These two fixed, anthropomorphic, dumb robots exude a mysterious perfume, Odeur 53 by Comme des Garçons, a unisex fragrance that feeds into the ambiguous nature of this double portrait.