Every day is box-ing day for Toronto Box War Warriors
As the shortened NHL season draws to a close and the Toronto Maple Leafs inevitably choke and miss the playoffs, fans of pugnacious grown-ups in padding and helmets will need some sort of recourse before the next season begins.
Enter Box Wars, an Australian-bred concoction of cardboard costumes and weapons. Billed as a performance art exhibition, the spectacle features two sides—one representing Good and the other Evil – battling in full do-it-yourself regalia.
“On a base level, it’s people bashing the living crap out of each other,” jokes Justin McConnell, former York student and director of Skull World, a documentary on Box Wars. “I always like to say it’s the beer-swilling, metal-loving brother of LARP. But beyond that isa lot of craft going into everything on the battlefield. It takes time to make good armour and weapons.”
Box Wars is to LARP (live action role-playing) what Metallica
is to post-1990s Metallica, and the leader of the Canadian faction is an enigma in a jean jacket called Skull Man.
Initially discovered by the Australian faction of Box Wars via his 2004 Internet video “Cardboard Car Demolition Derby,” the Toronto Box War warrior has since gained a substantial hometown following and is the subject of Skull World.
Both Skull Man and McConnell spoke with Excalibur to discuss the artistic merits and finer points of the rough-and-tumble contest.
“The purpose [of Box Wars] is to have fun,” says Skull Man, “and to profile and unleash your creativity in your costume.”
Scrounging materials largely from recycle bins, alleyways, and street corners, Box Warriors use their creativity and imagination to turn discarded cardboard into battle-ready armour, turning one person’s trash into their own treasure.
“The art is in the costume design-—we paint, sculpt, and design our costumes and characters,” says Skull Man. “We are only allowed cardboard, tape, glue, markers, and paint to be used for building supplies.”
The collection of costumes and weapons is eclectic, meticulously made, and often original.
“We’ve had knights, samurais, Vikings, monsters, dragon beings, good and evil aliens, and animals,” says Skull Man, but he insists his favourite was when a person came to a battle dressed as a milk carton.
“They’re basically wearing hand-made sculptures and then destroying them,” McConnell laughs.
Box Wars is equal parts performance and exhibition, however, and participants are as much actors as they are warriors.
“In our eyes, the performance is in the battle,” says Skull Man. “We are performing for an audience.”
Each person takes on their own persona and character, and teams are usually divided into Good versus Evil.
The side of Good is normally led by Skull Man himself, while the side of Evil is usually led by his arch nemesis, General X.
Each battle has its own mini narrative, which, along with the ornate and inventive costumes and weaponry, creates an engaging spectacle that people can’t get enough of.
Having recently performed as the halftime show at the Toronto Roller Derby and at the STRUTT Wearable Art Weekend, Box Wars has a growing fan base and shows no signs of relenting.
Although the demographic of Box Wars enthusiasts consists largely of males aged 21-40, Skull Man contends that there are plenty of females too, and that Box Wars attracts people who are “into art, metal music, tattoos, comic books, pop culture, and the fringe of life.”
“When I first started shooting [Skull World],” McConnell admits, “I thought I had the demographic pegged. I was proven wrong pretty quickly. Turns out you can never predict who will show up for a Box War.”
“I hope it continues to grow all over the world, in every country,” says Skull Man. “I also hope that one day it will become an Olympic sport.”
Justin Li, Arts Editor
