10.000 White Roses

I use these roses as the bases of small and large-scale installations, which show not only the unassuming simplicity of the single rose, but also the monumental beauty of thousands together. The contemplative, careful viewer then pauses for a moment to consider that almost forgotten phenomenon ‘female diligence’.

What happens when a modern woman lives by those guideline? How do those around her react? During my performances, I isolate and exaggerate a number of traditional ideals and seek interaction with the public.

The Rose Project focuses on the phenomenon ‘Diligence’. I was looking for an approach in which the desire to be diligent would be the only motivation. The end product had to be neither decorative nor inherently useful. It only had to be tangible testimony to untiring diligence.

In August 2006 I therefore started crocheting white roses. I perched myself on an uncomfortable stool and crocheted continuously around and around until my first rose was complete. It was a simple but labour intensive activity. After a day of careful crocheting my first twelve roses were ready. The energy and diligence of the day had been crocheted into the rose; the rose itself had no intrinsic function.

Daily I pinned the fruits of my diligence to my studio wall. One day a woman who had been following the creation of the roses for some time came up to me and offered her help. A week later she presented me with her first 30 roses. Moreover, she told me that both her sister and her neighbour would also like to help.

It is now December 2007, and the number of white roses has meanwhile grown to more than 4,000. 20 ‘rose princesses’ are crocheting diligently along. Every month I hold a ‘rose crocheting evening’, where all my princesses gather around me to crochet cosily together. The rose princesses work with diligence and dedication. They do not ask me the whys or the wherefores. Every rose they give me is imbued with loving devotion. Each rose has its own little story. Not only their diligence, but also their kindness, consideration and lovability cast a unique perfume over every rose.