WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) – On the 3rd, locked in his Australian hotel room for quarantine, David Marriott was getting bored. He had seen some seasons of “The Sopranos” and his eyes were tired of reading.
Then lunch came in a brown paper bowl and he thought “Aha. It’s a hat waiting to happen. ”
The paper cowboy was born.
Thanks to the good quality paper bags that the food distributes every day, Marriott, art director in TV commercials, began making a suit. He added an edge to her hat and then came the vest and badges. Next? A horse, of course.
He found an ironing board in his closet and tied it to a desk lamp for his neck and head, creating a skeleton. Coffee pods became the eyes and nostrils. He put the horse Russell after a joke from an old father: “Have you heard of paper jeans? They were captured and hanged for whispering. “
The creative world Marriott created inside his Brisbane hotel room became more complicated each day as he added plot lines in music videos he posted online. The Clingfilm Kid became the villain, for stealing Russell while he slept.
Like Wilson in the movie “Castaway,” Marriott says Russell can also be a sounding board.
“It’s an existential conversation, quite philosophical,” he says. “Why are we here? What are we doing? ”
And he made the Rydges hotel staff laugh by asking Russell to take him for a walk.
“He’s been encouraging everyone,” he said. “The hotel staff is hospitable, but it has all these guests who can’t see or interact with them.”
The story behind Marriott’s quarantine stay is more troubling. His father Harry fell at his home in London and was taken to a hospital, where he was operated on and rehabilitation began. But then he caught the coronavirus.
“I was very lucky that my mother and sisters were there, and I was allowed to enter,” Marriott said. “I would zoom in with him at three in the morning. Seeing it deteriorate was heartbreaking. But I was able to say goodbye and make peace. ”
Marriott flew from Australia for the funeral in what he said was a sad trip. Like other Australians returning home, he had to quarantine in a hotel for two weeks.
Marriott said he has been making accessories all his life. Even as a child he used to have trouble breaking his father’s tools.
Because quarantine guests are considered potentially infectious, their food is delivered in disposable containers and dishes that are discarded rather than recycled, which Marriott has found somewhat gritty. But he said he had barely thrown anything since he started his stay and only needed to place orders on a few extras, such as duct tape and cling film.
And when he leaves on Saturday, he hopes to take Russell and his other creations with him. He said there was interest from a film center that wants Russell in an art show.
“He’s a bit of a superstar now,” Marriott said.
After all, you can just fold Russell and put him in the bag.