MONSTERS
The Monsters was a community development project conducted in the lead-up to the 2013/14 Woodford Folk Festival. Children throughout the Sunshine Coast were asked to submit monster drawings from which three were selected to be made into monster-size, internally operated puppets.
I worked as the Head of Department for this project alongside giant puppet company kneeHIGH to coordinate a team of student interns and volunteers as they learnt the skills necessary to build and operate the puppets.
“Being the artist of it... it is exciting how your monster can get built from a piece of paper like this big, into a monster like 10 foot!”
I also facilitated the continued involvement of the children who designed the monsters, supporting them to perform in front of 10 000 people in the festival's opening ceremony.
During the festival I managed the monster's daily performances, focusing on developing our team's skills, confidence and sense of initiative. As a result, the team reunited for 2014/15 Woodford Folk Festival with one of the students now at the helm, bringing the monsters back to the streets of Woodfordia as a firm favourite.
The original designs below: Bob by Angus (7yo), Softie by Hardsheep (10yo) and Spike by Alli (9yo).
