Make yourself a Man(nequin)

What with the exploitative price of male mannequins, along with the fact that decimating your life savings will only get a generic ‘human’ form, I thought I’d take a cheaper more artistic route. Below I detail the process by which you too can make your own man!

Step 1: Find a man whose body you want.

(www.fanpop.com)

Be not confined to the narrow dictates of society! Neglect the wash-rack abs and bulging biceps of men whose only job is to promote a stereotype! Rather focus on the sagging pecs, drooping shoulders and prominent boep of the every day man. These are the bodies that have been, over thousands of years, the capable forgers of society, and should certainly NOT be rejected due to preconceptions of the ideal male form.

Step 2: Convince your man to submit to bondage by duct tape.

It would help to find a man who already has an affinity to being wrapped in tape. If your man seems uncertain of this process provide him with a small preview of the experience, before moving swiftly to Step 3.

Step 3: Find a t-shirt you’re happy to lose.

The t-shirt will get cut up, and eventually embalmed in the mannequin, so be sure you’re willing to part with this item of clothing.

Step 4: Wrap your man.

Having him wear the t-shirt (with nothing else underneath) I find that using clear tape as a first layer, and then masking or duct tape as two additional layers is sufficient.

Wrap all three layers from the chest to the waist first, or this will become difficult once the shoulders have been wrapped. My first attempt made this exact mistake, and necessitated the ‘Egyptian God pose’ seen below.

Step 5: Unwrap your man

Cut through all layers and the t-shirt to remove the wrapping, which now forms the basis of your body cast.

Step 6: Stuff your man.

Fill the cast with crumpled paper and off-cuts, before taping over the holes and making sure you haven’t added or neglected any bulges present or absent in your model.

Step 7: Embalm your man.

Submerse yourself in the funnest and simplest craft ever invented: paper mache!! I do only about 5 layers to ensure I don’t add too much bulk to the form, but of course you are free to do as you please.

Step 8: Enjoy your new man!