a view into the showcase image © designboom

recently the dutch designer duo scholten and baijings opened a retrospective at vivid gallery in rotterdam. they called their exhibition ‘from japanese furniture to vegetables’.

during milan design week 2010, at rossana orlandi in milan they showcased inedible vegetables with a great sense of realism to real produce. from a distance the stalks of raw rhubarb look almost real. however, it’s only when this fabric trompe l’oeil is right under your nose that the woven texture and the stitching is visible.

scholten and baijings vegetables vegetables by scholten and baijings

the realism is especially evident in the red stem that gradually becomes a paler in pink as it reaches the leaf. details such as the inclusion of dark veins makes these ‘fake’ vegetables especially convincing. the leaf curl up whimsically and slowly graduate in color from a green to a soft yellow and, finally,  to a pastel pink. even the half-round, slightly hollowed out form of the stalk is photorealistic.

scholten and baijings vegetables vegetables on display image © designboom

scholten and baijings vegetables cabbages image © designboom

scholten and baijings vegetables image © designboom

scholten and baijings vegetables image © designboom

scholten and baijings vegetables cabbages

scholten and baijings vegetables cabbage

scholten and baijings vegetables cabbage

scholten and baijings vegetables image © designboom

scholten and baijings vegetables artichoke

scholten and baijings vegetables image © designboom

scholten and baijings vegetables lemons