May 02, 2015

MILAN DESIGN WEEK | WE MAKE CARPETS | VENTURA LAMBRATE

One major highlight at Ventura Lambrate this year was definitely the adaptation of the exhibition ‘Kneeling’ by the Dutch group WE MAKE CARPETS. It took them 7 long days to install their incredibly visual carpART’s ( as we like to call them ) on the floor of the industrial setting within Ventura.

The original Kneeling was a big solo exhibition by WE MAKE CARPETS that displayed their clever temporary contemporary carpets, held last year commemorating their five year anniversary at MU Eindhoven in the Netherlands. That year they also launched a beautiful book: Kneeling Five years of WE MAKE CARPETS which is a must BUY.

The creative trio, who are based in Amsterdam are made up by : Bob, Marcia and Stijn, do not make carpets as such, well at least not the traditional ones you walk on. They have some hilarious stories from past exhibitions about people accidentally walking on the works or even one visitor nibbled on the CandyBar Carpet. Despite these mishaps they strongly believe in not obstructing their works by erecting barriers or securing pieces with glue, as from a distance it tricks the eye into believing that the arrangement is a beautifully constructed carpet however up close you see the intricate placement of everyday objects.

The trio came together in 2009 when they created their first carpet through a collaborative project ( part of ‘Instant Nature’ exhibition during that year’s Dutch Design Week ). They foraged in the forest collecting pine cones and needles thus creating what they called ‘Forest Carpet’. They had no pre conceived ideas to move forward to be “the” carpArt makers, but it was just a natural design progression from that origianl concept.

There is no design pre planned, yet the material, location and size are pre set. The trio start in the centre and work outward bouncing ideas off each other spending long days and nights on their knees in awkward twister esk positions. It is a physically taxing method to their work yet we believe that is what makes the end result so unique and breath taking, as you consider the time and effort endured upon viewing their work.

The group look at everyday objects under a different light, they find the beauty in the simplest of things, like a paperclip, cotton wool ball, or pasta strand. You can see displayed in the work, their love of form and simplicity, the trio’s synergy is remarkable, they have developed their own design formula.