On their knees

We Make Carpets, a trio of Dutch artists, recreates 50 of their 'temporary' carpets out of everyday objects for Dutch Design Week 2014.

What do fire crackers, pot scourers and crayons have in common?

These three everyday objects are just some of the raw materials that Dutch artists We Make Carpets use to create their meticulous, mind-bending, temporary and contemporary carpets.

What makes these creations even more special is that the slightest breeze or a careless passer-by can undo the carefully packed carpet of objects. 

Marcia Nolte, Stijn van der Vleuten and Bob Waardenburg, the trio behind We Make Carpets, spend a lot of time on their knees building up these intricate patterned rugs from the inside out.

“Our work is about super elementary design. It is about objects everybody uses, like clothes pegs and LEDs, but that no one would give a second thought. Why do they look the way they do?” says Waardenburg.

Van der Vleuten adds: “It is essentially a re-evaluation of materials that have been produced to be discarded after use.”

During the past five years the collective have created about 50 carpets, big and small, inside and outdoors, in deserts and in galleries.

To celebrate this five-year journey they have recreated all of the 50 carpets for a special solo exhibition at MU in Eindhoven during the annual Dutch Design Week

On 24 October 2014 they are also launching Kneeling - Five Years of WE MAKE CARPETS, a book developed in collaboration with the graphic designers of HeyHeydeHaas, at the exhibition.