Sprinkle Carpet

Have you ever seen such a tiny carpet?

Did you know that this artwork consists entirely of carefully sorted fruit sprinkles? All the sprinkles are loose on this pedestal. So… watch out! As soon as someone bumps into it, the artwork will perish and become just a plank with fruit sprinkles.

You may be familiar with it. Wim T Schippers made a peanut butter floor in the 1960s. That artwork caused quite a stir.

Although sprinkles were invented in the early 1900s by the owner of (later) Venco licorice, fruit sprinkles were invented by De Ruijter. They get their color from ingredients such as apple or grape juice.

The pattern of this installation is not predetermined. In fact, every time we show the work in the museum, it takes on a slightly different form. The artists, Marcia, Stijn and Bob, take turns laying down a line of sprinkles. This is mirrored by the other on the other side, and then continues with another line of sprinkles. In this way, they build up this artwork with tweezers, sprinkle by sprinkle.

Stijn said that he didn't dare to breathe while installing the sprinkles. One too heavy sigh, and all the work is undone. It took We Make Carpets a total of two days to make this artwork. That must be a new record for holding your breath.

Bob Waardenburg, Marcia Nolte and Stijn van der Vleuten together form the artist collective We Make Carpets. They have been making installations of everyday objects and materials since 2009. The carpets of pasta, pink and blue mice, scouring pads, chip forks and other everyday materials can be seen in museums from Australia to the United States. The works vary from meters high and wide to small and refined. Whatever the size, the production process is always intensive. ‘Those large works are heavy, but the small ones are perhaps even more intense. Your whole body is under tension’, says Marcia Nolte.