studio makkink & bey: washhouse

studio makkink & bey: washhouse helmrinderknecht contemporary design gallery, berlin on now until october 30, 2010

installation view of ‘washhouse’ at helmrinderknecht contemporary design gallery

dutch design studio makkink & bey (rianne makkink & jurgen bey) present ‘washhouse’, their first solo exhibition at helmrinderknecht contemporary design gallery in berlin.

studio makkink & bey have created a site-specific, three-dimensional walk through landscape of a rural village. the scene is illustrated through the use of mohair woolen blankets, which hang on clotheslines – which are draped in between simple wooden posts – to give shape and division of space. each blanket is woven with patterns and lines which become the exterior of the ‘houses’, or reflect imagery of the surrounding landscape. the wooden posts in which the wash lines are draped not only function as a laundry racks, but within the fictive landscape they also become trees. the woolen blankets, like houses, offer human beings protection and shelter. they offer warmth and security. they are roofs over our heads, and they tuck us in comfortably when we are going to bed.

the blankets were produced at the textielmuseum’s workshop, textilelab in tilburg, netherlands. all blankets are two-sided and woven with two different colors. there are a total of five patterns. each one is exclusively available at helmrinderknecht contemporary design.