What's the bare minimum you would need to grow one or two plants. In terms of CFL Lights ventilation etc. Could you use a cardboard box? Also, how do you move the lights up and down?
Well, that's really the wrong question.
"How many lights for one plant?". . .that depends. You could probably grow a plant successfully in a coffee cup with just a 23 watt bulb to get a few grams, or in a 55 gallon drum, using a 1000 watt HPS to get over a pound.
The smallest grow I've ever personally witnessed was in soil within a 2-foot high speaker cabinet with literally one 15 watt tube and one 23 watt compact fluorescent lamp for 38 watts total. It was pretty cool. The grower left the speaker wired, lightproofed it, and it was actually fully functional with the plant growing inside!
Yield was tiny, but certainly enough to prove it "can" be done. Case was ventilated with a fan. Instead of the grower moving the lights, he moved the PLANT up and down by putting it on books. Remember, there is more than one way to skin a cat.
I've seen a number of highly successful grows under nothing more than a 70 watt HPS security lamp.
Can you grow in a cardboard box? Definitely yes.
Should you? Probably not.
Again, a cardboard box isn't very strong, and its hard to get a good light mount in one. Cardboard is flammable, not good around hot lights. Cardboard also rots easily if wet, another potential issue around plants you're going to water. So while possible, there are probably better ways to go about this. Consider a book shelf, file cabinet, custom built box, cheap plastic box, computer case, suitcase (!), etc.
I think the better way to go about this is first you decide how much space you are able/willing to devote to growing, and then what your budget is.
Once you have those two things in mind, then you can decide what kind of setup you need to optimize your space and budget.
So the real question isn't how many lights per plant, its how many watts you'll need per square foot of space you're trying to fill up with plants