A white table cloth draped over a small round table. The cloth has a pattern of circular holes punched all over it.

1991

Tablecloth, Non Cloth

Designed by: Gijs Bakker (born 1942)

Material: Linen

Produced by: DMD, Tiburg, the Netherlands

Dimensions: 148 x 148 cm

The Liliane and David M. Stewart Program for Modern Design, 2009.23

This tablecloth is part of Dutch designer Bakker’s Holes project, which was a collection of perforated household objects. Bakker described the concept: “I discovered that it is not the hole, but what is behind the hole that is important. In this case, instead of hiding your table with your tablecloth, you reveal parts of it.”

The holes made Bakker’s objects lighter and saved material, yet the designs remained strong enough to fulfill their purpose, the ultimate in minimalism. The project was a criticism of the volume of wasted materials in our consumer society.