CORONA ROCKET PROGRAM by RICHLAB.
After the closing of museums, galleries, cinemas, restaurants, bars, and sports clubs during the first corona lockdown in The Netherlands, there was little left for Richard Sluijs (RichLab Art & Design Projects) than taking walks through his home town The Hague, The Netherlands. Meanwhile looking for possible new recycling ideas.
While wandering he came across a large Tintin rocket in the window of a collector's shop. An iconic design by the famous Belgian cartoonist Hergé that he already knew from his youth (which, in addition to playing soccer, consisted largely of reading comics and building scale models). He would have liked to have had such a large Tintin rocket when he was young, but unfortunately, it was unaffordable.
Standing in front of the shop window he decided – now that work had slowed down – with a number of found ingredients, including tabs-tapered legs of a cupboard, wooden balls from an old children's game, and thin leftover MDF-plates, he could make a model kit himself based on Hergé's original construction drawing in 'Rocket to the Moon' from 1953.
#1
The finding of a bed headboard with tapered wooden bars set the series in motion. Height: 49 cm.
21points
The construction of the rocket tasted like the good old days, and when shortly afterward he found a bed headboard with tapered wooden bars – each of which could serve as a core or point of a rocket – a new category of his recycle art was born: the Corona RichLab Rocket Program (CRRP).
After two years of corona restrictions, it has resulted in a series of smaller and larger fantasy rocket models.
The shapes of the rockets are very diverse (always determined by the different parts he found in the streets), but all have a base of three legs in common – a tribute to Hergé.
#2
85 cm. High silver space station, made from legs of a couch, a broken garden pole, golf-, ping pong- & children’s balls, topped off with a broken radio antenna.
19points
#3
Leg and backrest bars from broken saloon chair & metal coil spring from an old lounge chair, 57 cm high.
17points
#4
4 legs of a couch and a table leg as a core, this rocket is the largest one so far (117 cm high). Exterior lines are made of metal wire from clothes drying racks.
15points
#5
The 39 cm high black one (inspired by the sr71). Tapered wooden spike, standing on discarded nitrous oxide cartridges.
15points
#6
The red one taking off, made of an old table lamp post, broken wooden chandelier parts, table lamp springs and topped with the point of an old walking stick. Height 49 cm.
15points
#7
Decorative legs of old wooden cabinet & part of a broken spinning wheel. Height: 54 cm.
14points
#8
Left: 51 cm, right: 79 cm. Ingredients: part of banister, discarded nitrous oxide cartridges, broken paintbrush, decorative cupboard-topping, broken broomsticks, legs of piano stool.
12points
#9
Tapered wooden spike & wooden bars from children’s safety fence. Base legs are made of checkers. Height: 45 cm.
12points
#10
Moonlander: made of rounded banister-end, coffee table leg & discarded nitrous oxide cartridges. Height: 33 cm.
12points
#11
1st rocket based on the original design drawings by hergé from 1953 in Tintin's 'Rocket to the moon'. Height: 54 cm.
11points
#12
3 wooden spinning tops and an old bowling pin connected with self-soldered metal construction, 49 cm high.
9points
#13
The white one is made of 7 different sizes of broken garden poles, banisters & broomsticks. Topped off with an end part of a curtain-hanger. Height: 69 cm.
9points