Christien Meindertsma - The journey of a sheeps fleece

A bird's eye view

The 3D carpet project by designer Christien Meindertsma that is currently on display at the Van Abbemuseum is a model-like translation of the journey a sheep's wool takes to become a final product. Meindertsma is fascinated by the route between the origin and the final product. She looks at every partial operation that the raw material undergoes: the sheering of the sheep, the combing of the yarn, the dyeing and spinning process and the final tufting of the rug itself. The bird's eye view images of all the different sites where those operations take place form the inspiration for the design of the rugs: from the vast fields in New Zealand where the sheep graze to the French town where the sheep are dyed and the industrial area in Asten, where the CSrugs factory is located. In the rug you see landscapes, roads, buildings, bushes and trees, visualized in several layers.

“All sites are incredibly interesting to capture into a design. The 3d elements that the tufting robot can create in the rug are amazing.”
-  Christien Meindertsma

A collaboration

For this project, Meindertsma has joined forces with CSrugs and filmmaker Roel van Tour, who is recording the project on film - a process that is still ongoing due to the limitations surrounding the corona virus.

Richard Hutten, art director of CSrugs and a famous designer himself (known for designs including the Berlage chair) wholeheartedly embraces the project:

“With this collection Christien Meindertsma has proven again she is one of the most interesting minds in design nowadays. The current Covid-19 crisis has made this collection even more relevant. We have to rethink the way we produce, and that starts with showing the process behind the producing of the goods we consume.” 
- Richard Hutten

Feico Dieudonné, CEO of CSrugs, is equally excited: “Christien Meindertsma’s project pushes the boundaries of what is possible with robot tufting.” 

Christien Meindertsma and CSrugs previously collaborated on Meindertsma’s Flax Field rug, which was exhibited in Milan during the Salone del Mobile design week 2019, a project with 9 Dutch designers under the supervision of Richard Hutten.