ZELF again

Today kids museum Villa Zebra sent me some really nice pictures of their semi-permanent exhibition ZELF! The exhibition consists of six interactive art installations that are tucked away in a big box. By opening one or more doors these installations are revealed and 3-6 year olds can get their hands dirty (metaphorically speaking). Together with Renée Reijnders and Geeske de Graaff I created a hospital where kids can construct new human beings with the fabric body parts. 

The only time I've seen the exhibition was when it was heaving with kids. Which is how it should be of course. But it is nice to see it in a serene setting - it will probably never be as peaceful again as in this photo shoot...

 

 ∧ The installation next to us is by famous children's book illustrator Thé Tjong-Khing. I'm absolutely thrilled my work is exhibited next to his; he is one of my heroes!! 

Photos by Hester Blankenstijn and Mike Bink.

Do It Yourzelf!

Tomorrow the semi-permanent exhibition ZELF! opens in Villa Zebra, Rotterdam!! The exhibition consists of six art installations that have been created specifically for 3-6 year olds. One of the installations is a little hospital where kids can create new human beings with the (fabric) body parts I made together with Renée Reijnders and Geeske de Graaff. The way the exhibition space is designed is a work of art in itself, so you should really go and take a look! You can either go to the opening at 10.00 and have coffee and cake, or at 17.00 if you fancy a drink and a snack.

I fixed Michael Jackson's nose

Yesss, I have finished sewing and mending the 'body parts' for the exhibition at Villa Zebra! One of my last tasks was to fix Michael Jackson's nose... 

It turned out to be a bit of a MJ-themed day, since I also came across a cover of his Baby Be Mine by Quadron - a blue-eyed R&B duo from Denmark. Their super groovy song Slippin' is on high rotation here at the moment.

 

Quadron - Baby Be Mine. Download it here. 

Quadron - Slippin'. Download it here.

Another day at the office

 

I'm knee deep in embroidering and sewing for a project for children's museum Villa Zebra in Rotterdam. A few years back I made, together with Geeske de Graaff, life sized body parts from fabric for the exhibition Completely broken at Villa Zebra. The kids could put the body parts together with poppers to create new human beings, ANY WAY they wanted to. The cool thing about the body parts was that there was something 'wrong' with all  of them: one is cross eyed, another one has pimples, another braces. Some limbs have wounds or are broken, there's a beer-belly, a leg with varix, a foot with six toes, and so on.

Now the dolls are going to be part of a semi-permanent exhibition at the museum. Therefore they first needed a good wash because they were dirty. Very dirty.

 

Pretty disgusting, innit?!  

Some of the dolls need to be repaired. Especially the felt we used became a bit rough after being handled by hundreds if not thousands of little hands.

Villa Zebra also commissioned some new body parts, which I'm creating with my friend Renée Reijnders. This baby in distress will be added to the collection, along with a dog with 5 legs, a trunk with an 'outie' bellybutton, the arm of a very clumsy painter and more. Grand opening will be at the end of November!