These Bright Rope Masks Were Born Accidentally

Bertjan Pot is a designer from Holland, probably best known for his Random Light (1999).

When explaining his work process, Pot’s site explains that “Most experiments start quite impulsively by a certain curiosity for how things would function or how something would look. From there Pot takes on challenges with manufacturers to explore possibilities and push the boundaries a bit. The reward for each challenge is a new one.”

Pot worked together with his assistant, designer Vladi Rapaport, on a material experiment when they discovered an interesting technique that allows them to stitch bright ropes in order to create these unique face masks. They resemble tribal masks and look like they could carry some deeper meaning, but Pot claims that they are actually a result of an unsuccessful attempt at making rugs.

As Pot explained to Azure Magazine, he and Rapaport were trying to turn the rope into rugs but couldn’t make it stay flat. As his assistant suggested, the curvy samples they got would’ve looked great as face masks. “In the end, it turned out to be the most powerful application for the material,” Pot said.

See the masks below.

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#mask (sorry, not available)

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This one is off to Vienna. @mak_vienna #mask

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#boxingday #mask

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#mask

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#mask

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#stitchingrope #mask

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#mask #ropeworks

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#mask

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#mask

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