Bench Players is a series of failed, rejected, or unused animals from Rop van Mierlo's archive; the reserve bench animals.
 Rop van Mierlo works with various mediums but starts his process mostly with drawings or paintings. Control – or the absence of it – is an important part of his work. He is best known for his picture book Wild Animals, which won a Dutch Design Award in 2011. Van Mierlo is intrigued by the human need to control nature. Using a wet-on-wet technique, he paints animals that he can’t control.

Rop van Mierlo has collaborated on projects with Hermès, Marni, Head Porter and Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. Rop van Mierlo studied at Design Academy Eindhoven and graduated in 2008, he lives and works in Amsterdam. 


Book Launch at Reference Festival
September 7th, from 2pm
Potsdamer Str. 100
10785 Berlin